A half century milestone and Safin up next

Number one seed Federer continued his relentless march toward a fifth-straight Wimbledon Men's Singles title as he overcame 18-year-old Juan Martin del Potro 6-2 7-5 6-1 in the second round. In another rain-delayed match, Federer grabbed the first two sets and was leading 2-0 in the third when rain came down once again to disrupt proceedings at the All England Lawn Tennis club. After play was eventually suspended three hours later for the rest of the day, a ruthless Federer returned to court on day four to win the third set in just 11 minutes (for a total of 93 minutes match time--one minute longer than it took him to win his match against Gabashvili),and his 50th consecutive match on grass.

The dangerous but unpredictable Marat Safin will be Federer's opponent in the third round. The former world number one had denied Federer the 2005 Australian Open title by edging him in the semifinals in what many consider a classic five-set match. He also proved a challenge in their last match on grass in Halle in 2005 where Federer needed three sets to win. But grass is apparently Safins' weakest and most hated surface--if we are to recall his memorably bitter "grass is for cows" comment when he lost in the first round a few years ago. So unless Safin suddenly musters the brilliant form that he had two years ago, he would most likely at best grab a set from Federer in their upcoming and highly anticipated match.