New York: Five-time champion Roger Federer needed only 77 minutes to steamroll Israel's Dudi Sela 6-3 6-2 6-2 on Thursday and advance to the third round of the U.S. Open on a warm afternoon at Flushing Meadows.
Federer landed 72 per cent of his first serves, blasted six aces and never faced a break point to oust Sela before many in the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd could find their seats.
"I didn't have much trouble on my serve, and from the baseline I also had the upper hand," said Federer. "When it's like that, obviously it's tough for the opponent.
"I just think I was superior today."
Federer admitted he struggled a little bit with his rhythm in the breezy conditions.
"On the one end, on the right hand side of the umpire's chair you had sort of an uphill match with strong winds against you," said the 30-year-old, third-seeded Swiss.
"From the other side you barely touched the ball and it would fly on you. That's why you would make sometimes big errors of 10 feet. That was tough."
The 26-year-old Sela, who reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon in 2009, played tentatively, hitting just 10 winners while failing to record an ace.
"It's tough on the center court," said Sela. "I was very nervous from the beginning. Every shot he hit was a winner. If I played him on court 25 maybe I'd have a better chance.
"You want to go out there and give him a tough time, even though he's one of the greatest players ever. But I had no chance against his serve. Zero chance."
Sela said the other top players in the game are not as dominant as Federer.
"Every point was over so fast," he said. "(Novak) Djokovic, (Andy) Murray, (Rafa) Nadal -- they let you play more from the baseline. Federer didn't let me play. He attacked every short ball."
Sela admitted he would rather have played on the outside courts rather than under the spotlight of cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium.
"I'd rather play him in the parking lot," he said with a chuckle.
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