PARIS — Defending champion Roger
Federer is into the French Open quarterfinals with his fourth
consecutive straight-set victory.
The top-ranked Federer beat his pal,
protege and 2008 Olympic gold medalist doubles partner Stanislas
Wawrinka 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-2 Sunday.
Federer only briefly faced a bit of
trouble, getting broken in the second set and falling behind 4-2. But he
broke back to 4-4. Then, at 5-all in the tiebreaker, the 20th-seeded
Wawrinka missed an easy volley, giving Federer a set point. Federer
converted that with a service winner, and Wawrinka mangled his racket by
smashing it on the court three times.
With one more victory, Federer will
reach the semifinals at a 24th straight Grand Slam tournament.