Roger on a roll in Paris
Top seed Roger Federer showed he has the stomach for a fight as he battled to a gritty straight-sets victory over Mikhail Youzhny at the French Open on Sunday.
Federer prevailed in his first real test of the championship to make the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (7/3) 6-4 6-4 win over the 13th seed in just under two-and-a-half hours on Philippe Chatrier court.
The Swiss will next play Tommy Robredo, the ninth seed who thrashed Filippo Volandri in straight sets earlier in the day.
Federer, the world number one, extended his lifetime record against Youzhny to 10-0, but this was no walk in the park.
Federer started off slowly - he was broken in the first game of the match - but he got his break back in the sixth game of the set.
Despite never really hitting top form, the Swiss made it to the tie-break, reacting to an early mini-break by winning five points in a row to go 5-1 up.
Youzhny later put a backhand into the net to give Federer four set points, the second of which he took.
The 46-minute second set was slightly more straightforward, Federer claiming its only break - in the opening game - to take a commanding lead in the match.
But Youzhny refused to buckle and exchanged breaks with the top seed to go 2-1 ahead in the third set.
In the fifth game, the Russian wasted three break points after going 40-0 up as Federer won five points on bounce to hold.
The decisive break for Federer came in the seventh set as he went 4-3 ahead.
Serving for the match at 5-4, Federer saw Youzhny squander two break points before clinching the victory on his third match point.
The three-set success means the Swiss equals the longest streak of grand-slam matches (11) won in straight sets in the Open era, a record currently held by John McEnroe.
