Federer strolls past Spaniard

A relaxed Roger Federer outclassed Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 to waltz into the third round of Wimbledon today.

The favourite for the men's singles title, Roger Federer, in action against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez today.

LONDON // Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic remain on course for a semi-final showdown after enjoying comfortable straight-sets victories in today's second-round matches. Federer was never threatened by his Spanish opponent Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and the five-time champion restricted his Centre Court admirers to just 88 minutes of entertainment as he carved out his 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 passage. There was a less easy ride for world No 4 Djokovic on Court One as the Serbian was frequently embarrassed by Germany's Simon Greul in the opening set before taking command and securing a 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 verdict. "I am really pleased because I had a lot of ups and downs out there," said Djokovic, a former Australian Open champion. "I made things more difficult for myself than they should have been. Djokovic, who lost in the second round here a year ago, is playing down his chances of lasting deep into the second week. "I don't want to put any pressure on myself," he explained. "I know how hard it is to deal with and I'm glad the people are not talking about me at the moment." He was stretching a point, though, by suggesting that he could not be regarded as favourite to win his next match against the American Mardy Fish, the 28th seed. Fish, who prevented Djokovic from meeting his fellow Serbian Janko Tipsarevic by winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Court Two, has reached two grass-court finals in his career and Djokovic observed: "He's a big server so it's always going to be difficult against him on a fast surface. " The singles programme on Court One was cut disappointingly short when in the first set of the concluding match Michael Llodra, of France, collided with a ball girl and then the umpire's chair and was eventually forced to retire after two spells of treatment, conceding his match to Germany's Tommy Haas after only seven games.

[e-mail] ART Prime Sport, 2pm