Federer into quarterfinals at Monte Carlo

The Federer Express quickly dispatched Korean Hyung-Taik Lee in a 104-minute 6-4 6-3 victory in the third round at the Monte Carlo ATP Masters Series.

As is usual for Federer in the early rounds of a tournament, he struggled a bit in the beginning, losing his serve once to Lee. (I was terribly nervous watching those first few opening games!) But Federer managed to break Lee's serve for a second time in the 10th game to clinch the first set. From then on, he seemed to have found his rhythm and gained more confidence in his shots as his first serve percentage improved and he conceded a total of only eight points on his serve.

Federer might face more of a challenge in his next opponent, the twelfth seed Spaniard David Ferrer, who upset Miami AMS title holder and sixth seed Novak Djokovic. The two actually also clashed in the quarterfinals last year in Monte Carlo; Federer won that match 6-1 6-3. Hence, this time around I'm quite confident he'll give Ferrer--and the other players--good reason to fear the King of Grass on clay as well.