Top seed Roger Federer sauntered into the last 16 with a regulation 6-3 7-6 6-4 victory over Frenchman Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon today.
His 44th consecutive grasscourt victory was never really in doubt against the 24-year-old former Wimbledon junior champion and he spent most of the match in cruise control.
Federer secured the first set with a solitary break and although he had to save one break point at 3-4 in a serve-dominated second set he stepped on the gas to win the tiebreak easily.
His only blemish came at 5-3 in the third set when he sloppily lost his serve but he immediately broke back with a searing backhand to end the contest just past the two-hour mark.
"It was a tricky match, it was very difficult," admitted Federer, who beat Richard Gasquet and Britain's Tim Henman in straight sets in the first two rounds.
"I expected a big serve but not that big of a second serve, that was what was really difficult. He had many, many points that were over in no time. You don't really get a momentum going.
"The crowd were waiting for something to happen and nobody really had too many chances on each other's serve. I knew I had to wait for my chance and I was actually pretty relaxed all the way through and that was important, not getting frustrated against a player like this."
