Federer fires through into Paris quarter-finals

Relentless Roger Federer showed no mercy to his friend and compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka, winning the pair's second all-Swiss battle in as many events to roll into the quarter-finals of the French Open Sunday 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.




The victory was a ruthless follow-up to Federer's trouncing of his Beijing Olympic gold medal partner in Madrid a fortnight ago.



The top-seeded world number one faces a potential re-run of his final from 2009 if Robin Soderling gets past Croatian Marin Cilic in their fourth-round match-up on another grey day at Roland Garros.



Federer now stands 5-1 over Wawrinka with wins of two of their three clay meetings. Federer has motored through the draw this week without the loss of a set in four matches.



The win marked his 43rd at the tournament against ten defeats for the 16-time Grand Slam champion.



Federer owns 62 titles but for the second time in nine years arrived in Paris without winning a clay trophy. He lost to Rafael Nadal in the Madrid final this month.



"I'm playing well, serving well. Everything is fine," said the winner.



In women's play, four-time champion Justine Henin made a triumphant return to form as the Belgian completed a win over Maria Sharapova 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 Sunday to reach the fourth round in a match delayed by darkness the night before.



Russian Nadia Petrova put out second seed Venus Williams 6-4, 6-3 and will face compatriot Elena Dementieva after the fifth seed beat Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa,6-1, 6-3.



Danish third seed Caroline Wozniacki spoiled a potential all-Italian quarter-final with her three-hour defeat of number 15 Flavia Pennetta 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (4-7), 6-2.



Italy's Francesca Schiavone went through to her fourth quarter-final at a major, defeating Maria Kirilenko 6-4, 6-4.



Henin, a former world number one and darling of the Roland Garros crowds, was playing her favourite event for the first time since 2008 when she announced a retirement from the game which only lasted 20 months.



Between them, 12th seed Sharapova, winner of the Strasbourg title last weekend, own 10 Grand Slam titles, with Henin on seven including her Paris quartet.



"It's only a few tournaments I've played, I still need some time," said Henin.



"It's going to be a year of transition. I still think that, even if I had good results from the beginning of the season.



"I have ambitions to go as far as possible, but I'm also conscious that I'll have to work hard on my intensity, my concentration, and just to be more consistent all the time," she said in the run-up to her next match with Australian Samantha Stosur.



The Belgian now leads the series with Sharapova 7-3 after the LA-based Russian won their last match at the 2008 Australian Open.



Henin is confidently looking ahead. "I'm in the round of 16, so it means there are 15 other girls who can make it till the end.



"In tennis, everything can change very quickly. I want to go as far as I can, otherwise I wouldn't be here. I have a great motivation."