World number one Roger Federer quickly ended Wesley Moodie's reign as Japan Open champion with a clinical 6-2 6-1 win to reach the quarter-finals on Thursday. Razor-sharp from the opening point, the Swiss took 52 minutes to blow away the South African behind a blaze of winners, improving his win-loss record this year to 74-5.
"I played great and came up with an incredible match," Federer told reporters. "I hit a few really great shots but to win so convincingly was quite surprising." Federer won seven straight games from 3-2 in the first set with an awesome display of stroke-making that left Moodie shaking his head in disbelief.
One angled backhand return from Federer that drifted away from Moodie and on to the line to give him a break for 2-0 in the second set even brought a wry smile to the world number one's face.
The nine-times grand slam singles champion had struggled to beat 276th-ranked qualifier Viktor Troicki 7-6 7-6 in his opening match and the unfortunate Moodie felt the full backlash.
Federer wrapped up the formalities on his first match point with a kicking second serve that brought a wild backhand from his deflated opponent, who looked relieved his ordeal was over. Federer next plays Japanese wildcard Takao Suzuki, who continued to impress on his return from a serious shoulder injury with a battling 6-7 7-6 6-1 win over Germany's Alexander Waske.
Britain's Tim Henman and Croatian Mario Ancic had their third round matches postponed until Friday as organisers struggled to clear a backlog caused by the bad weather. Other matches were hastily rescheduled with play set to continue well beyond midnight on centre court.
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