Federer cruises into Australian Open quarters

Roger Federer produced a masterclass to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals, the Swiss third seed easing past David Goffin in straight sets on Sunday.

Federer barely broke sweat in his 6-2 6-1 6-4 dismantling of the talented Belgian 15th seed on Rod Laver Arena.

The 17-time grand slam champion was in control throughout, only dropping serve once as he beat Goffin for the fourth time in as many meetings to earn a last-eight showdown with sixth seed Tomas Berdych.

It was a late start in Melbourne, with the marathon five-setter between Novak Djokovic and Gilles Simon earlier in the day forcing back the scheduled times on court.

But when Federer did eventually get started, he wasted little time against Goffin, who was 0-14 against players ranked in the top five prior to the match.

With his trademark backhand in full motion, Federer broke Goffin in the fourth and eighth games to wrap up the opening set in just over 21 minutes.

The second set followed a similar pattern after Goffin was again broken in the fourth game.

Goffin did manage to go toe-to-toe with Federer as the set wore on, but the Swiss had all the answers, executing a delightful backhand slice over the 25-year-old after an exhilarating baseline rally to go up a double break before earning a commanding 2-0 lead in sets.

It was then a case of the inevitable after Goffin dropped serve in the opening game of the third set, allowing Federer to canter into a 12th quarter-final at Melbourne Park, despite a late rally.

STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN

Federer [3] bt Goffin [15] 6-2 6-1 6-4

ACES

Federer - 7

Goffin - 5

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Federer - 39/20

Goffin - 17/13

BREAK POINTS WON

Federer - 6/13

Goffin - 1/1

FIRST SERVE PERCENTAGE

Federer - 63

Goffin - 66

PERCENTAGE OF POINTS WON ON FIRST/SECOND SERVE

Federer - 86/64

Goffin - 65/29

TOTAL POINTS

Federer - 91

Goffin - 59