MELBOURNE, Australia(AP) Second-ranked Roger Federer has reached the third round of the Australian Open, where he is trying to equal Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles.
Federer was dominating in a 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 victory Wednesday over No. 118 Evgeny Korolev, a Russian who has never made it past the second round in a major. It took just 86 minutes.
Affected by mononucleosis, Federer lost in the semifinals at Melbourne last year. He looks to be in top form now and next plays Marat Safin, the Russian who beat him in the semifinals en route to the 2005 Australian Open championship.