TENNIS:A world-weariness hung over Roger Federer when he came in from an almost perfect third-round match. With the hyperbole that surrounds the Swiss player threatening to suck him into the vacuum of a surreal world, which some less talented players appear to have already occupied, the 25-year-old continues to manage his way with deftness and a skill far beyond most players.
Federer off court is every bit as assured as he is on it.
There is no doubt the number one seed wants to win the French Open more than anything now.
There is little question he wants to join the small band of players who have won all four Grand Slams (six) and then become part of the even smaller club, with Rod Laver and Don Budge, who have won the four in the same calendar year.
He then seeks to win more Grand Slams than the current record holder, Pete Sampras (13), and continue to set the bar so high it will take another 50 years before a phenomenon like him arrives on the scene again. Federer has more pressures than beating a third-round opponent ranked 57 in the world.
Each time he inches closer to the final at Roland Garros, the inquiry restarts and when he wins a game like yesterday's against Potito Starace, Pavlov's dogs in the press room begin to salivate.
His 6-2, 6-3, 6-0 defeat of the Italian was elegant and without fuss and compared to the war that took place on Wednesday involving Lleyton Hewitt and Gastin Gaudio and the four-set match yesterday in which Argentina's David Nalbandian beat French hope Gael Monfils, it was of a different dimension.
The thought was that Federer's performance was so seamless and almost without imperfection that he is actually improving.
"It's hard to judge if I'm getting better," he said afterwards. "I'm happy with the way things are going and I haven't lost a set. Today I just got the feeling that from the baseline I was going to be the better man and on clay that's a huge advantage."
Federer next meets a quality player, who has never won a Grand Slam, but normally raises his game against the top players.
The 13th seed, Russia's Mikhail Youzhny, is likely to resist more than Starace but Federer, despite his claims that he looks only at the match in front of him, may see his possible quarter-final meeting with the other Russian in his side of the draw, Nikolay Davydenko, as one of the major hurdles to clear.
The fourth seed came through in five sets against France's Michael Llodra. In one of the few so far to have run for more than four hours, Davydenko won 2-6, 6-2, 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-4 in four hours 21 minutes.
Either way Federer remains cautious and Youzhny is the only thing in his focus.
"I definitely have to be careful, even though I've never lost to him," said the top seed. "I have a lot of respect for his game because he is a great player and I like his game."
