(Reuters) - The first words Roger Federer thought of when he realised he would face Argentina's David Nalbandian in the third round at Wimbledon may have been "panic" and "danger."
But it took Federer less than two minutes on Saturday to realize that he did not need to panic as the man standing opposite him posed no danger to his hopes of winning a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon crown.
The 2011 version of Nalbandian bore little resemblance to the player who tormented and tortured the Swiss in their first five meetings, all of which the Argentine won, and on day six of the championships Federer glided into the last 16 with a delectable 6-4 6-2 6-4 win.
"A guy who has beaten me eight times knows how to beat me again so I am very pleased to go through," Federer, who has not dropped a set this week, said after setting up a fourth-round date with Nicolas Almagro or Mikhail Youzhny.
"So that's also where the pressure is greater against a player like him because maybe he's not going to win the tournament but he can knock you out of the tournament. That's a danger against a player like him.
"I played well from start to finish. I am playing better than last year -- more confident on serve and more relaxed with my returns. I think I played a great match."
The 19th meeting between the two 29-year-olds was taking place on a Center Court bathed in glorious sunshine but the way Federer opened his account -- with three blink-and-you-will-miss missiles -- would have sent chills down Nalbandian's spine.
The Argentine, whose first ever match on the most famous tennis stage was when he reached the 2002 final, certainly appeared to be taken aback by the winners bouncing off Federer's racket and meekly surrendered his serve in the third game.
A slight lapse by Federer allowed Nalbandian to get back to 3-3 but in the next game, the 28th seed almost hurled his racket to the ground in disgust after Federer once again pounced to nose ahead.
In fact, as Federer steamed away with five of the next six games, Nalbandian realised that little was going his way and decided to try out some unconventional shots. His attempt at a between the legs lob won him a deafening roar of cheers but unfortunately for him not the point.
Such was Federer's single-minded focus that he failed to notice a male war-cry of "I love your Roger" or the wolf-whistles that greeted him when he changed his shirt.
While the umpire tried to restore order with a plea of "Ladies and gentlemen, let's be respectful of the players," Federer was in no mood show Nalbandian any respect and dissected the Argentine's game with the precision of a surgeon.
SERVES MISFIRING
Nalbandian's serves started misfiring, his forehands began crumbling and his backhand struggled to handle the Federer onslaught from midway through the match.
With his mind hurting, Nalbandian's body also appeared to give up the ghost as he asked for the trainer to come on while trailing 5-2 in the second set.
The trainer tried to massage his right thigh back to life but no amount of ointment or treatment could rescue Nalbandian.
He lethargically scooped the ball into the net go two sets down and it was clear that there would be no way back for him.
Federer broke for a 5-4 lead in the third set and it was not until he was serving for the match that the Swiss third seed finally showed his frailties.
On his first match point, he had the entire court at his mercy but ended up smashing the ball long, much to the amusement of the 15,000 fans.
Following a 17-shot rally, Federer dragged a forehand long on his second match point while Nalbandian produced a dropshot winner on the third.
The crowd lapped up the drama but Federer refused to play ball and two points later, he slammed down an unreturnable serve to end Nalbandian's resistance.
"I'm using basically everything in my arsenal, the slice, the drive and so forth. I've been playing really well. I've gotten through the matches comfortably and that's very nice," summed up Federer, who failed to reach the final in 2010 for the first time in eight years.
reuters
Not much to say here, other then keep it up Fed!.
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