Federer eases past Henman

TWICE defending champion Roger Federer served his way into the third round of the US Open with a workmanlike 6-3 6-4 7-5 victory over Tim Henman.

Top-seeded Federer fired only six aces and had his serve broken once but proved to be in a different league to Henman at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The 25-year-old Federer, who has not lost a set in his two matches, will face either American Vince Spadea or Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden in the third round.

The unseeded Briton committed 38 unforced errors and was made to pay for each of his service lapses.

Federer raced into a 3-0 lead, breaking Henman in the second game of the match, and made it stand up to claim the first set.

In the second set, Federer grabbed a 5-2 advantage before Henman scored his only break of the match to trim the lead to 5-3. He could not capitalise, however, and Federer served out the set.

Henman, 31, improved his play in the final set but a loose service game allowed Federer to take a 6-5 lead before the Swiss served out the two-hour, two-minute match at love.