Federer scorches into Wimbledon third round

Roger Federer scorched into the third round at Wimbledon here Thursday, dropping just seven games in a brisk straight sets dismissal of French journeyman Adrian Mannarino. The Swiss former world number one served notice that he is in prime form as he chases a record seventh Wimbledon crown after routing Mannarino 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in just under 90 minutes to delight the Centre Court faithful. "I think I served great in the beginning and was able to sort of keep that going for the remainder of the match," said Federer, who is hoping to build on his fine form at the French Open, where he lost in the final to Rafael Nadal. "I think I've played well for a year now. I think the French Open was just proof that I'm in good shape and physically and mentally in a good place. "Unfortunately, I couldn't win it, but I didn't get pulled down by losing in the final. I hope I can make a run here." Federer will now play Argentinian veteran David Nalbandian for a place in the last 16 on Saturday. Federer was joined in the third round by second seed Novak Djokovic and fifth seed Robin Soderling, who overcame Lleyton Hewitt in a thrilling five-setter. Djokovic -- who has lost only one match all year -- maintained his red-hot form with a ruthless straight sets win over South Africa's Kevin Anderson, prevailing 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Djokovic, who is seeded to face Federer in the semi-finals, had too much class for his plucky opponent, dominating him at both the baseline and the net. "I served well, I played well, I returned really well. That was the key," said Djokovic, who faces Cypriot number 32 seed Marcos Baghdatis in the third round. "Every tennis player is looking for perfection all the time, trying to play the best possible tennis. "Even though I may be hard on myself sometimes I'm satisfied with my performance," added Djokovic, who could become world number one over the next 10 days if defending champion Rafael Nadal does not retain his crown. While Djokovic blasted his way into the last 64 of the men's singles, Sweden's Soderling was given a punishing examination by Hewitt on Centre Court before finally prevailing 6-7 (5/7), 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. It was the first time in Soderling's career that he had recovered after dropping the opening two sets, a psychological millstone that the 26-year-old was delighted to rid himself of. Soderling said the key to his come-from-behind win was a refusal to panic as Hewitt surged into a two-set lead with some inspired play early on. "You just have to take it one point at a time," Soderling said. "But I felt that if I could raise my game a little bit I would have a chance." Soderling now faces either Australian youngster Bernard Tomic or Russia's Igor Andreev in the next round. But it was a disappointing loss for Hewitt, whose world ranking plunged to a 13-year low of 130 earlier this month following a miserable sequence of results. In other matches, Argentinian 24th seed Juan Martin Del Potro came from behind to down Olivier Rochus of Belgium in four sets, 6-7 (7/9), 6-1, 6-0, 6-4. The biggest upset of the day saw Lu Yen-Hsun -- who became the first Taiwanese man to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final here last year -- down fiery Serbian 13th seed Viktor Troicki. Lu won 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 6-4 and will face French 15th seed Michael Llodra of France for a place in the last 16. The 27-year-old Lu, who defeated three-time finalist Andy Roddick in the fourth round in 2010, had to face an agonising 30-minute rain delay before he could wrap up victory.