Ruthless Federer dismisses Safin
Federer faces Tommy Haas in round four The much-anticipated third-round match did not begin until gone 1830 BST on Friday but Federer took just one hour and 39 minutes to see off the Russian.Safin, on his least favourite surface, was outclassed in the first two sets but stretched the world number one in an absorbing third.However, Federer edged the tiebreak to make it 51 straight wins on grass.The world number one faces German Tommy Haas in the last 16.Federer said he felt
his gameplan had worked to perfection against the big-hitting but unpredictable Safin.”I knew the danger against Marat,” said Federer, who has twice lost to the Russian in the past.”I don’t know if I played phenomenal. I just played the right way. I kept the ball in play, served well when I had to and neutralised him from the baseline. “I expected him to serve well in one of the three sets and he did in the third but by then it was too late and obviously I played a great tiebreak.”