ATP News : 2005


Federer races past unknown to reach Bangkok quarters

Roger Federer gave his diminishing jet-lag short shrift Thursday, blasting past German Denis Gremelmayr with a 6-3, 6-2 to move into the quarter-finals of the Thailand Open.


dpa - Less than 24 hours after working slightly more than expected to earn a straight-sets opening win at the event which he claimed a year ago, the Swiss world number 1 quickly got back into harness. It took just 61 minutes to tame the world number 239, who had won his only ATP-level match of the season in the first round.

Federer, searching for an 11th title of 2005 as he keeps clear of rival Spaniard Rafael Nadal, improved to 74-3 with 37 straight on hard court, a record in the post-1968 Open era. "I felt OK, I was in control the entire time," said the world number 1. "I didn't have to push so I didn't go 100 per cent all the time. I could save energy, but I was careful not to get into any danger."

Federer will face off Friday against Luxembourg's giant-killer Gilles Muller, who put out Peru's eighth seed Luis Horna in a 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 struggle. "I beat him routinely in Indian Wells, but he's been playing better since then," said the Swiss. "He lost the LA final to Agassi and put out Roddick in the U.S. Open first round."

Gremelmayr, a 24-year-old qualifier, was out of his depth for much of the match as the Swiss top seed honed his game. Federer took early leads in both sets and finished off on the first of two match points after 61 minutes.

British teenage hope Andy Murray began fulfilling potential as he reached the Top 100 for the first time, moving into his first career quarter-final at the ATP level with a defeat of Swedish fifth seed Robin Soderling 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5).

Finland's sixth seed Jarkko Nieminen, a U.S. Open quarter-finalist beaten by Lleyton Hewitt, tamed Russian Dmitry Tursunov 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.



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