Federer reverts back into familiar imperious form

For the first time in his career Federer had dropped three sets in the opening two matches of a grand slam, but yesterday he breezed past the oldest man left in the draw.

The 28-year-old Swiss, chasing a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title, was assisted by some indifferent play from his opponent.

Clement was playing in his 50th grand slam and the Frenchman used his experience to claw himself back into contention on court, if not the scoreboard, in the second set.

With his forehand repeatedly misfiring, however, he crumbled in the third set and Federer was able to conduct play throughout.

The top seed faces Jurgen Melzer for the first time in the fourth round and will feel all the better for this confidence-restoring victory after being pushed so close by Alejandro Falla in his tournament opener.

In the blink of an eye yesterday he had raced into a 2-0 lead, amassing two break points in the opening game and succeeding on the second when Clement volleyed long.

Clement was back in trouble in the fifth and appeared to have avoided going further behind thanks to a smart volley followed by an ace, but Federer fired a backhand on a third break point to take the game.

Set point arrived in the eighth game which was immediately settled when Clement rifled his return into the net.

The carnage continued into the second set, with an overhit forehand from Clement handing Federer an early break.

To underline his superiority, Federer won the next game without dropping a point, his immaculate serving producing a pair of aces in the process.

Many of the Swiss player's shots were hugging the lines as he gracefully sprayed the ball around court.

Federer could make no further inroads into Clement's serve but, already a break up, he only had to hold his own to take the second set.

A graceful rally with both players bombing around court ended with a smash from Federer, and in the fifth game of the third set Clement was battling to save his serve.

The Frenchman's first delivery was failing him and Federer was revelling in the freedom that gave him to direct play, winning the game when Clement found the net. Clement's serve disintegrated in the seventh and Federer barely had to move out of second gear as he broke for a second time before coasting over the finishing line.

Federer was pleased to have ended a challenging opening week by making rapid progress into the fourth round.

"The reception I get here is always very nice. I get standing ovations 99 per cent of the time," he said.

"When I win and I get a reception like this it's good and I love coming back to Wimbledon.

"I'd certainly rather still be here in the tournament than watching at home on the couch.

"I'm excited about having the weekend off because it's been a tough first week. I'm excited to still be here.

"Jurgen Melzer is the same age and we go way back but I've never played him before. It's going to be interesting."

Former champion Lleyton Hewitt eased to a straight-sets victory over fellow seed Gael Monfils to set up an intriguing fourth-round contest against Novak Djokovic.

Hewitt, who has undergone two hip operations in the past two years, moved around Centre Court well during his 6-3 7-6 6-4 triumph.

The 23-year-old Frenchman offered little resistance to the 2002 winner's serve until the third set and spurned the chance to put Hewitt under pressure when he wasted three set-points during the tie-break.

Monfils, a former junior champion at SW19, even turned his back on Hewitt during a point in the second set as he failed to provide the close contest many anticipated.

Third seed Djokovic progressed with a convincing triumph over Albert Montanes.

Djokovic had faced a difficult five-set opener against Olivier Rochus but he followed up his straight-sets win over Taylor Dent by beating the 28th-seeded Spaniard 6-1 6-4 6-4.

The Serbian hit 14 winners during the first set, which he finished off with an ace after just 26 minutes. The following sets were closer but Djokovic was always in control after breaking in the first game of each.

"I was holding my service games comfortably," said Djokovic, "but I was a little bit frustrated with my return, which is usually one of my weapons.

"It hasn't been the best couple of months for me but I'm still holding on and there's huge motivation to do well at Wimbledon. It's the tournament I respect most."