Roger Federer won 13 games in succession as the 16-time Grand Slam title-winner easily disposed of French wild card Maxime Teixeira 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 to reach the Roland Garros last 32 on Wednesday.
Federer, the 2009 champion in Paris, will take on Serbian 29th seed Janko Tipsarevic, who beat Spain’s Pere Riba, for a place in the last 16.
The Swiss great overcame an early break before breezing through in just 84 minutes leaving Teixeira, playing in his first Grand Slam event and first tour-level tournament, looked every inch the world 181.
"He fought really hard and was trying his best," said Federer.
"It was a good match. I’m happy with the way I played. I feel like I am in the tournament now."
Next up is Tipsarevic, the colourful Serb who stretched Federer to five sets in the 2008 Australian Open third round.
"He’s a dangerous player, especially on the big courts against the big players," said Federer.
"I will have to be careful as he can vary his game from hard courts to clay courts."
Federer never needed to reach top gear on Wednesday and was always in control from the time he broke to lead 5-3 in the first set.
Three breaks of serve followed in the second set in which the 22-year-old Frenchman won just eight points.
Federer had swept 13 games in a row before Teixeira stopped the rot at 1-4 in the third set and the underdog even saved a match point in the seventh game.
But the world number three wrapped up victory on a sweltering Court Suzanne Lenglen when Teixeira went wide with a backhand.
Post match, Federer described Juan Martin del Potro as a French Open dark horse and insisted that had injury not sidelined the big Argentine in 2010, he could have been the Roland Garros champion.
The Swiss world number three is wary of the danger posed by a fully-fit Del Potro, which could be bad news for world number two Novak Djokovic, with the two men scheduled to meet in the third round in Paris.
Del Potro, who took Federer to five sets in the 2009 semifinals, missed last year’s Roland Garros with a wrist injury and was a doubt for this edition after suffering problems with his hip.
"If he hadn’t been injured with his wrist, maybe he would have won the French Open last year," said Federer.
"I thought he played that well in 2009 against me in the semis, where I thought it was a real close match. So he’s definitely got his chance – and it will be a good match against Novak. I hope it’s going to happen."
Five-time champion Nadal was two sets to one down before rallying to victory in his first ever five-set match at the French Open.
"We all know Isner’s capabilities and he can play well on clay. Like Rafa said himself, I think he didn’t play the two best tie-breakers in his life," said Federer.
"I think Rafa did really well to come back, and it was interesting to see him in his first five-setter in Paris. It’s something special, something that’s never happened before. So there was huge attention to see how he was going to come out of it."(AFP)
