Benneteau the yardstick for title-chasing Federer

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  • Roger Federer may have benefitted from two stress-free rounds at the start of his French Open run but the Swiss is well aware his third round opponent is a tough one, who has beaten him as recently as last February.

    The Swiss No2 seed booked a showdown with French veteran Julien Benneteau, after cruising past Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman 6-2, 6-1, 6-1, on a rare occasion playing on Court Suzanne Lenglen rather than Philippe Chatrier.

    Federer faced two qualifiers in a row in his opening two rounds but will now take on a home favourite and knows what to expect.

    “The next match is going to be a big test for me to see exactly where I stand,” said the 2009 Roland Garros champion.

    “I’m happy that I was playing offensive and aggressive tennis in the first two matches, because I had the opportunity, but I didn’t back off and start to play passive tennis and waited for mistakes. So I took it to my opponent, and I think that’s what’s good about it.”

    Benneteau, who battled through a bizarre second round against German Tobias Kamke 7-6 (9), 7-5, 5-7, 0-6, 6-4, says he is relishing the opportunity to face Federer at home and is armed with confidence from his win over the Swiss in Rotterdam a few months ago.

    “It’s going to be great. Playing Federer on the Centre Court at Roland Garros,” said the 31-year-old. “He had a breeze in the first two rounds. He’s playing very well. To beat him before the quarter-finals you’re going to have to really ramp up a gear.”

    The match of the day saw Gael Monfils once again rally the troops behind him and stave off an assault from Latvian Ernests Gulbis.

    The ever-entertaining Frenchman, who is returning from injury, came back from a set and a break down to beat Gulbis 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2 in three hours, 15 minutes.

    Monfils admits that he finds it hard to explain how well he’s been performing, taking out Tomas Berdych in the opening round followed by Gulbis.

    He said: “It’s difficult to explain it, but all I know is I have a strong belief in myself. I just never give up and just believe that I can show up my best every day. I’m just trying to be tough mentally and tougher in my mind when things get down.”

    The match delivered some high-quality tennis but also featured some light-hearted moments with Monfils video-taping a Mexican wave taking place in the stands while Gulbis was on a toilet break, who on return joked with the Frenchman about a lucky net cord in the previous set.

    Monfils’ fellow Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Benoit Paire and Gilles Simon were also winners on Wednesday.

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