Taylor unable to dent Federer’s title hopes

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:24

The Swiss has so far drawn a blank in terms of titles this year, having come closest at the Australian Open when he was beaten by current world number one Rafael Nadal.

Federer took just 85 minutes to see of the challenge of Dent, who showed some signs he is returning to his best after a back injury has forced him out of action for the most part of three years.

All eight top seeds were in action on Tuesday with only seventh seed Gilles Simon dropping out of the draw, although Nadal had to go to two tiebreakers to get past Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka.

Wawrinka served seven aces and saved 11 of 12 break points to forced the world number one to play nearly three hours of tennis before he ran out a 7-6 (7/2) 7-6 (7/4) winner.

Simon was the odd man despite winning the opening set against his compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, as he fell 6-7 (7/4) 6-3 6-2. That means Tsonga, the 10th seed, will now play Novak Djokovic in the last eight after the Serbian ousted Tomas Berdych 6-3 6-2.

Also in the bottom half of the draw Andy Roddick progressed with a 7-6 (7/2) 6-4 win against Gael Monfils. The American will play Federer in the last eight, the same stage with which he ousted the Swiss last year.

In the top half of the draw their were straight-set wins for Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and Fernando Verdasco. Murray crushed Viktor Troicki 6-1 6-0 in less than an hour and will next play Verdasco who was too good for Radek Stepanek 6-2 6-2.

Del Potro also continued to impress as he rolled past David Ferrer 6-3 6-2 in one hour and 19 minutes. The Argentine will meet Nadal in the quarters.

In the women’s event, eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova became the first player to reach the semi-finals with a 6-4 6-7 (5/7) 6-1 victory over Caroline Wozniacki, while Sam Stosur’s impressive run came to an abrupt end as she was dismissed 6-1 6-0 by 11th seed Victoria Azarenka.

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