Tennis

Nothing suits Federer but title

WIMBLEDON, England - As good as top-ranked Roger Federer is, his streak of reaching the second week at tennis' four biggest tournaments extends only to last year's French Open. But on grass, and at Wimbledon, he looks and feels rather invincible.

He has 32 consecutive wins on the surface, 17 at the All England Club. Asked whether anything less than a third straight Wimbledon title, something accomplished only by Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras in the past 60 years, would be okay with him, Federer's answer was direct:

"No, probably not. I wouldn't be satisfied," he said. "For me, only the win would be satisfying this year, the way I've been playing."

Today, after Wimbledon's traditional day off on the middle Sunday, he'll face 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero . Other fourth-round matchups include No.2 Andy Roddick vs. 2004 French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria .

Roddick, who lost to Federer in the Wimbledon final last year and the semifinals in 2003, sounded more thrilled than his rival did about making it to Week 2.

"It's definitely always a big relief to kind of get through the first couple of rounds, be alive come the second week," Roddick said. "That's where the big matches start happening."

TEEN'S TIME: Frenchman Richard Gasquet is the lone teenager to make the men's round of 16.

As fellow teens such as French Open champion Rafael Nadal and British upstart Andrew Murray were eliminated, the 19-year-old Gasquet reached the fourth round at a Grand Slam for the first time Saturday by beating Gilles Muller 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 6-3.

Gasquet's showing isn't a surprise. The No.27 seed showed an aptitude for grass by winning his first ATP title at Nottingham, a Wimbledon warmup event.

"It's the same as the last week because I won a tournament," Gasquet said. "I played really good there. It's the same in Wimbledon."

Gasquet's opponent today is David Nalbandian , who rallied Saturday to eliminate the 18-year-old Murray.

[Last modified June 27, 2005, 01:06:04]