Federer eases into quarter-finals

Wimbledon Championships
Venue: All England Club, London Date: 21 June - 4 July
Coverage: Live on BBC One and Two, HD, Red Button, BBC Sport website (UK only), Radio 5 live, 5 live sports extra; live text commentary online and on mobile phones; watch again on BBC iPlayer Full details of BBC coverage

Federer was taken to five sets by Alejandro Falla in the first round

Roger Federer made short work of Austria's Jurgen Melzer to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and stay on target for his seventh singles crown.

The defending champion was rarely troubled by the subdued 16th seed and prevailed 6-3 6-2 6-3 in an hour and 25 minutes on Centre Court.

Federer will play either 12th seed Tomas Berdych or unseeded German Daniel Brands in the last eight.

That match will be Federer's 25th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final.

"The start of the match was vital. I got the early break, he broke back but I was in my rhythm," said Federer.

"I think my form is good enough but obviously the opponents are going to get more and more difficult.

606: DEBATE It might not have been the best performance by Jurgen this year but it had an awful lot to do with the constant pressure from the return Brush

"I know how to win here which is a great advantage for me but there are so many great players left in the draw so it is still a very difficult tournament to win. I will try to give myself a chance and see where it goes."

Federer, 28, dropped three sets against Alejandro Falla and Ilija Bozoljac in the first two rounds but looked back to his best in dismantling Arnaud Clement in round three.

And the Swiss barely broke sweat in searing temperatures on Centre Court, sweeping Melzer aside with the kind of dominant display which has been his trademark since he first won the title in 2003.

By his own high standards 2010 has been a disappointing year for Federer, who has failed to win any of his seven tournaments since beating Andy Murray in the Australian Open final in January.

Federer's run of 23 successive Grand Slam semi-final appearances came to an end at the French Open and he lost for the second time in 78 matches on grass when Lleyton Hewitt beat him in the final at Halle earlier this month.

But with world number one Rafael Nadal struggling with a knee injury after two gruelling five-set wins, Federer must be reasonably confident of equalling Pete Sampras's record of seven Wimbledon men's singles titles.

Federer dropped his opening service game but broke back immediately and it was all plain-sailing after that.

Another break followed soon after as Federer, who has 16 Grand Slam titles to his name, took advantage of some hesitant play from the Austrian, who had never previously reached the fourth round at SW19.

With Federer comfortable on serve, the 29-year-old Melzer was under intense pressure to hold his own serve and the left-hander crumbled under the strain in the second set.

Federer was able to produce winners on Melzer's first serve at will and feasted on his opponent's weak second serves to open up a two-break lead that proved enough to take the set.

Melzer could not make any impact on the Federer serve in the third set either and the defending champion broke in the seventh game before serving out the match.

tadalafil uk | online pharmacy without prescription