Ottawa Citizen

Federer flying at Aussie Open

- JOHN PYE

— Roger Federer relaxed into the chair, his arms folded across his chest in a casual, confident way, and just savoured a vintage Australian Open performanc­e.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion, seeded a lowlyby-his-standards 17th after spending six months on the sidelines to let his left knee heal, only needed 90 minutes to beat Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 in the third round Friday.

This was against a highlycred­entialed pro, seeded No. 10, who had reached the quarter-finals or better in Australia the previous six years, and had beaten Federer in six of their last 22 matches.

Federer said he felt like he struggled against the qualifiers in his first two rounds, and knew the degree of difficulty would rise sharply. Having beaten Berdych, he next faces No. 5 Kei Nishikori. And there’s a potential quarter-final match against top-ranked Andy Murray.

“It’s just crazy how quick I got out of the blocks,” Federer said of his almost flawless match against Berdych. “What a difference it was in the feeling afterward. I did surprise myself.

“From the baseline, honestly, I felt worlds better than in the first couple of rounds.”

Federer had 40 winners and won 95 per cent of points when he got his first serve into play. He didn’t face a break point.

Nishikori, the 2014 U.S. Open finalist who beat Lukas Lacko 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, has lost four of his six matches against Federer, including the last three.

Five-time Australian Open runner-up Murray said he had no trouble with his sore right ankle as he advanced to the fourth round for the ninth straight year with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 31 Sam Querrey.

U.S. Open champion Stan Wawrinka had a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7) win over Viktor Troicki.

Seven-time major winner Venus Williams routed Duan Yingying 6-1, 6-0 in 59 minutes. Women’s champion Angelique Kerber beat Kristyna Pliskova 6-0, 6-4 and will next play Coco Vandeweghe, who had a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win over Canadian Eugenie Bouchard.

The day belonged to Federer, though, and he didn’t mind that everyone noticed. When reminded in his news conference of his range of exquisite shots, the 35-yearold Swiss star eased into his chair and nodded.

“Thank you. Keep going. Keep going — it’s good, it’s good,” he said, smiling.

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