Roger Federer continued to roll over his opponents and Lindsay Davenport had an equally easy time as both top seeds breezed into the next round of the Indian Wells WTA and ATP Masters Series event.
World number one and defending champion Federer cruised past unheralded Gilles Muller, of Luxembourg, while Davenport dispatched 16-year-old Viktoriya Kutuzova 6-1, 6-4 in the evening match on Tuesday.
Federer is now 22-1 this year after firing seven aces and winning 80 of 141 total points in the 83-minute match.
”I felt I was always in control,” said Federer. ”I am feeling well and I have had two quite comfortable matches so far.”
Federer already has three titles (Doha, Rotterdam and Dubai) in 2005 and will next face Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, who beat Czech Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-1.
Red-hot Ljubicic has reached four finals this year, but strangely three of those losses have been to Federer.
”I am ready for a player of this calibre,” Federer said. ”I favour Ljubicic because he’s been winning many more matches.”
Federer’s only loss this year came in the semifinals of the Australian Open to eventual champion Marat Safin, who was upset by American Taylor Dent 7-5, 6-4 on Tuesday.
”It was the worst match I ever played in my career,” Safin said. ”I have never felt so bad on the court in my entire career.”
At one point, Safin got so frustrated he smashed his racket.
”I like destroyed it,” he said. ”I really touched the bottom of my game.”
Fourth-seeded Safin, of Russia, crashed out of Indian Wells in the third round for the second straight year, losing last year to Andy Roddick.
Two-time Indian Wells champion Davenport registered five aces and won 89% of her first serve points against the 16-year-old Ukrainian.
Davenport, who is seeking her 47th career singles title, squares off against France’s Nathalie Dechy in the quarterfinals.
Australian two-time grand-slam winner Lleyton Hewitt covered the court effectively in overpowering Frenchman Michael Llodra 6-2, 7-6.
”He’s awkward to play because you really don’t know what’s coming,” Hewitt said. ”It is a matter of trying to get your rhythm out there and just make him play a lot of balls.”
Former world number one Hewitt committed just 12 unforced errors against the hard-serving Llodra.
”He’s the one trying to pull the trigger all the time,” Hewitt said. ”He comes up with some great winners and then he’s going to make a lot of unforced errors as well. You just have to try and weather the storm.”
The 24-year-old Hewitt advances to the fourth round, where he will meet Paul-Henri Mathieu.
Hewitt has a history of producing some of his best tennis in Indian Wells, winning consecutive titles in 2002 and 2003 and holding a stellar 21-5 singles record.
In the women’s draw, Russian fourth seed Elena Dementieva advanced to the quarterfinals by beating France’s Tatiana Golovin 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Dementieva had to rally from a set down for the second consecutive match as she is trying to improve on her semifinal finish at Indian Wells in 2000.
”I was able to come back and I feel my game is getting better from the previous match,” said Dementieva, who was runner-up in the French and US Opens last year.
Dementieva was one of six Russians in action on Tuesday, with three advancing to the quarterfinals.
She next faces Kuznetsova in a rematch of the 2005 US Open final, which was won by Kuznetsova 6-3, 7-5.
Kuznetsova booked her spot in the quarterfinals by beating Japan’s Rika Fujiwara 6-3, 6-2, and third seed Maria Sharapova rallied from behind to beat Colombia’s Fabiola Zuluaga 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Unseeded Kim Clijsters continued her march through the field, routing Russian teen Evgenia Linetskaya 6-2, 6-1. — AFP
