Federer eases past Teixeire

Roger Federer gave French wild card Maxime Teixeira a grand slam lesson in the second round of the French Open this morning.

The 2009 champion was playing in his 46th consecutive major – 45 more than his opponent – and, after a scrappy opening, Federer went on a run of 13 consecutive games before closing out the victory 6-3 6-0 6-2 in an hour and 24 minutes.

The third seed has not been at his best on clay this season but he negotiated a tricky opening-round tie against Feliciano Lopez in confident style on Monday and he began today by breaking in the Frenchman’s first service game.

Teixeira, ranked 181st in the world, showed he was not overawed by breaking straight back but, once Federer had moved ahead again in the eighth game, there was no way back for the 22-year-old.

Indeed, Teixeira, one of 21 Frenchmen in the main draw, did not win another game until 4-0 in the third set, celebrating his small victory with an ironic punch of the air. The end was nigh, though, and Federer had no trouble serving out the most routine of wins.

The contrast with great rival Rafael Nadal’s struggles against John Isner yesterday could not have been more stark, and Federer could well benefit from being overshadowed by the world number one and Novak Djokovic in the build-up.

Federer’s opponent in the third round, Janko Tipsarevic, had an even easier time of it, beating Pere Riba 6-1 6-3 6-0.

The Swiss knows all about Tipsarevic’s qualities after needing five sets to get past him at the Australian Open in 2008, and he said: “He’s a dangerous player on the big courts against the big players. I’ll have to be careful.”