Melbourne: Ageless defending champion Roger Federer marked his 100th match on Rod Laver Arena by storming past American Taylor Fritz 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 in the third round here Friday.
The 21-year-old World No.50 had no answer to the precision and finesse of the Swiss master, who extended his Open-era record for the most appearances in the fourth round of a Grand Slam to 63 with an 88-minute demolition.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion will continue his quest for a record seventh Australian Open title against Greek 14th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last 16.
Federer blitzed the young American from the start, barrelling through the first set in just 20 minutes.
It prompted Nick Kyrgios, commentating on Australian TV, to proclaim: “The way Federer is moving is scary. This is ridiculous tennis.”
Former junior World No.1 Fritz put up a better fight in the second stanza. He held serve to lead 4-3 and had a glimmer of hope at 0-30 in the next. But Federer, as he has done so many times in the 20 years he has been coming here stepped up through the gears and got out of trouble by unleashing a repertoire of great shots.
At 5-5, Federer converted the second of two break points and served out for a two-set lead. Federer was clearly in no mood to hang about and put his foot back down on the gas to race through the third in just 26 minutes.
Meanwhile, in the women’s segment, young American Amanda Anisimova upstaged 11th seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 6-2, hitting her way into the fourth round. The fearless 17-year-old bullied her much higher-ranked opponent who looked shell-shocked by the power being generated at the other end of the court. It was Anisimova’s third consecutive straight sets win.
Agencies
