Federer Stays on Course Down Under in Rout of Safin

Roger Federer hopes Friday’s third round match at the Australian Open will not be the last time he gets to play Marat Safin. The world No. 2 took one hour and 51 minutes to oust the big Russian 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) to set up a fourth-round clash with Czech Tomas Berdych, who beat Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4. After the match Safin said it was unlikely he would play at the tournament again and Federer, who has had some classic matches against the 28-year-old, including an epic semifinal in Melbourne in 2005 which he lost, was hopeful the pair could stretch their number of encounters beyond the dozen they have now played. “I love playing the guy. He brings something different to the tennis world with his character, the way he is on the court and the way he is off the court. He’s larger than life,” the three-time Australian Open champion said. “I hope it’s not the last one tonight. If it were to be the last one at the Australian Open, I think we both kind of feel good about having played each other at the highest level. We tried to come with a good match.” Federer won the battle of the former champions to extend his run of victories against Safin to 10 in 12 meetings. The Swiss second seed, looking for a record-tying 14th grand slam title, drew first blood by taking the opening set in 26 minutes as he broke the Safin serve in the eighth game before serving out the set. The second set featured booming serves and well-executed lobs from Safin, but they were countered by a wayward forehand that continued to let him down at crucial times - at one point prompting him to bounce his racquet in disgust. Federer’s passing shots though were hitting the mark allowing him to break Safin in the fifth game. A superb winner deep into the corner of the court gave him another break in the seventh and from there he served out the set. The third set went with serve. The breakthrough finally came in the tiebreak after a fired-up Safin had said a few choice words to an official who called a foot fault. Despite Safin leveling at 5-5, Federer remained focused and closed the match out. “I think I played better in the third set. Unfortunately, it’s probably a little bit too late to play against Federer to get into the match,” said Safin. “I had a couple of opportunities there, small ones, but still the tiebreak was very close. For me, it was a chance to win a set, and then you never know what happens. There was a small chance for me, just it slipped away.”