Federer enters fourth round at Wimbledon

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LONDON - Roger Federer shunted aside the stuttering start of past days Friday as the six-time champion hit full flow in a rousing 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 defeat of Arnaud Clement to lift into the Wimbledon second week.

It was a confident top seed who constructed the red-blooded third-round victory over the veteran Frenchman, whom Federer has now beaten in seven consecutive matches dating to 2001.

Federer, who had to recover from two sets to love down in his first match and overcome a free-swinging qualifier in his second, was all business against Clement, the 32-year-old ranked 86th.

The victory propels Federer to exactly the position he would wish, with a clean-slate start Monday against Jurgen Melzer at the All England Club part of the master plan for the 16-time champion at majors.

“Obviously, this match felt much better,” said the Swiss, at Wimbledon. “Right off the bat I got the early break. Same thing in the second set.

“From then on, it was a race to the finish line. It was a good and solid match for me, clean, hardly any errors, good on the offensive. I’m very happy with my game right now.”

Three-time finalist Andy Roddick, beaten every time by Federer, fulfilled his fifth seeding with a battling win over German Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-3 signing off with an ace.

Third seed Novak Djokovic joined the winners as the Serb shrugged off World Cup football disappointment in South Africa in a defeat of Spain’s Albert Montanes 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

The 2008 Australian Open winner will play 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt after the Aussie posted a 6-3, 7-6 (11-9), 6-4 defeat of Frenchman Gael Monfils, coached by Hewitt’s former mentor Roger Rasheed.

“This was always going to be a tough match,” said Hewitt. “He’s flashy, like most French guys. He’s got a lot of firepower out there. Obviously grass takes away a little bit of his movement.

“I’ve lost to him the last few times we’ve played. It was huge to get out of the second-set tiebreaker and the third set could have gone either way also.”

In women’s play, Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin rolled back the years as the pair of comeback players powered into the fourth round, their recent retirements from the game now just fading memories.

Eighth seed Clijsters, who returned from her own exile after having a child and won the 2009 US Open only weeks into her comeback, defeated Russia’s Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-3.

The unseeded Henin rolled Nadia Petrova, the number 12, by a 6-1, 6-4 scoreline, her 14th win in 16 matches with the Russian. Henin was playing on Centre Court for the first time since a 2007 loss in the semi-finals to Marion Bartoli.

Longtime national rivals Henin and Clijsters will now play the battle of Belgium in the fourth round.

“It’s 50/50. Against someone like Justine you never know. You have to bring your best if you want to have a chance to win. So that’s what I’m going to have to do. You have to try to play your best tennis to beat the best,” said Clijsters.

Second seed Venus Williams beat Alisa Kleybanova 6-4, 6-2.

Fourth seed Jelena Jankovic needed two trainer visits in her second set for tapings on the way to a defeat of Alona Bondarenko 6-0, 6-3. French 11th seed Marion Bartoli put out Hungarian Greta Arn 6-3, 6-4.