Federer brings up his 50

LONDON – Roger Federer stroked his way to a 50th straight win on grass yesterday and took another graceful step towards matching Bjorn Borg’s five consecutive Wimbledon titles.

The Swiss maestro, resuming his rain-delayed match against Argentinian teenager Juan Martin Del Potro at 2-0 in the 3rd set, quickly wrapped up a 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 victory to set up an intriguing third round clash with former US and Australian Open champion Marat Safin. The world number one has not lost on his favourite surface since he was beaten in the first round here in 2002 by Croatia’s Mario Ancic and, yesterday’s evidence, even a player of Safin’s pedigree will struggle to halt his progress towards another final.Federer has won seven of his nine career meetings with Safin but the pair have not played each other since the world number one edged a tight three-set battle on grass at Halle two years ago.Safin however emerged victorious in the most important match the pair have played, the semi-final of the 2005 Australian Open which the Russian went on to win.The big Russian, who claimed earlier this week that his confidence was shot, appeared to have recovered some self-belief as he made short work of Pakistani qualifier Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, winning 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7/4).Qureshi, the first Pakistani to play in the Wimbledon men’s singles since Haroon Rahim in 1976, had dreamt of becoming the first player from his country to reach the third round.But Safin was in imperious form on the baseline and repeatedly picked off his opponent who attempted to serve and volley his way into the history books.French youngster Jo-Wilfried Tsonga fully justified the tournament organisers’ decision to award him a wildcard by advancing to the third round.The Muhammad Ali-lookalike, who had floored Lleyton Hewitt in the warm-up tournament at Queen’s, demonstrated that he packs a punch on grass once more by sweeping experienced Ecuadorian Nicolas Lapentti aside 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.In the women’s singles, sixth seed Ana Ivanovic, basking in her new-found status as the darling of the British tabloids, showed she is not just a pretty face as she eased past American Meilen Tu.But France’s Tatiana Golovin was forced to pack her bright red knickers away after being upset by Austria’s Tamira Paszek.The 17th seed, who again sported scarlet hot pants under her all-white outfit, went down to a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat by her Austrian opponent, who will now face Russian 12th seed Elena Dementieva.Former champion Venus Williams showed flashes of her old brilliance when she defeated Czech qualifier Hana Sromova 6-2 6-2.Williams, who needed three sets to get past first round opponent Alla Kudryavtseva, broke Sromova for a 3-0 lead and converted her second set point when the Czech sent the ball out.British interest in the women’s singles ended with Katie O’Brien’s 6-0, 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Michaella Krajicek, the younger sister of former men’s champion Richard who sends down her serve with similar venom to her big brother.O’Brien had been the only British female to reach the second round and she admitted afterwards that many of her peers, backed by the huge resources generated by Wimbledon, were in need of a kick up the backside.Nampa-AFPThe world number one has not lost on his favourite surface since he was beaten in the first round here in 2002 by Croatia’s Mario Ancic and, yesterday’s evidence, even a player of Safin’s pedigree will struggle to halt his progress towards another final.Federer has won seven of his nine career meetings with Safin but the pair have not played each other since the world number one edged a tight three-set battle on grass at Halle two years ago.Safin however emerged victorious in the most important match the pair have played, the semi-final of the 2005 Australian Open which the Russian went on to win.The big Russian, who claimed earlier this week that his confidence was shot, appeared to have recovered some self-belief as he made short work of Pakistani qualifier Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, winning 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7/4).Qureshi, the first Pakistani to play in the Wimbledon men’s singles since Haroon Rahim in 1976, had dreamt of becoming the first player from his country to reach the third round.But Safin was in imperious form on the baseline and repeatedly picked off his opponent who attempted to serve and volley his way into the history books.French youngster Jo-Wilfried Tsonga fully justified the tournament organisers’ decision to award him a wildcard by advancing to the third round.The Muhammad Ali-lookalike, who had floored Lleyton Hewitt in the warm-up tournament at Queen’s, demonstrated that he packs a punch on grass once more by sweeping experienced Ecuadorian Nicolas Lapentti aside 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.In the women’s singles, sixth seed Ana Ivanovic, basking in her new-found status as the darling of the British tabloids, showed she is not just a pretty face as she eased past American Meilen Tu.But France’s Tatiana Golovin was forced to pack her bright red knickers away after being upset by Austria’s Tamira Paszek.The 17th seed, who again sported scarlet hot pants under her all-white outfit, went down to a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat by her Austrian opponent, who will now face Russian 12th seed Elena Dementieva.Former champion Venus Williams showed flashes of her old brilliance when she defeated Czech qualifier Hana Sromova 6-2 6-2.Williams, who needed three sets to get past first round opponent Alla Kudryavtseva, broke Sromova for a 3-0 lead and converted her second set point when the Czech sent the ball out.British interest in the women’s singles ended with Katie O’Brien’s 6-0, 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Michaella Krajicek, the younger sister of former men’s champion Richard who sends down her serve with similar venom to her big brother.O’Brien had been the only British female to reach the second round and she admitted afterwards that many of her peers, backed by the huge resources generated by Wimbledon, were in need of a kick up the backside.Nampa-AFP