World number one Roger Federer looked like his old dominant self Tuesday as he swept aside France's Nicolas Mahut to reach the fourth round of the ATP and WTA Pacific Life Open. Federer, whose uncharacteristic slow start to the season has led to suggestions his position atop the world rankings could be in jeopardy, showed any such prediction was premature as he crushed Mahut 6-1, 6-1 in just 53 minutes. “I don't know if I can be better than that,” Federer said. Added Mahut: “I had the feeling I was a junior and he was a pro. It was the kind of match that at the end you feel like you want to ask him how much for the lesson.” Mahut won only four points against Federer's serve and his only point against the Swiss' serve in the first set was a Federer double fault. Federer, who has yet to win a title in 2008, bowed out of the Australian Open in the semi-finals and lost in the first round at Dubai. He has pinned much of his early-season sluggishness to the effects of mononucleosis, which disrupted his usual training and practice. In the fourth round, Federer will face Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Spain's Tommy Robredo. Russian Nikolay Davydenko, the world number four, became the biggest casualty of the event, falling to unseeded American Mardy Fish 6-3, 6-2. Fish, ranked 98th in the world, broke an eight-match losing streak against top-10 opponents - a run of futility that had stretched back to the 2007 Australian Open. He earned a fourth-round match against Australian Lleyton Hewitt, who beat Russian Mikhail Youzhny 7-5, 6-1. Seventh-seeded Argentinian David Nalbandian advanced with a 7-6 (7-1), 0-6, 7-6 (8-6) victory over Czech Radek Stepanek, and next meets Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero. Ferrero edged Croatian Mario Ancic 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7). The Spaniard wasted one match point en route to the third-set tiebreaker, while Ancic was unable to convert two match points of his own in the tiebreaker. Scottish 11th seed Andy Murray and German Tommy Haas booked a fourth-round meeting. Murray beat Croatian Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (9-7), 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, while Haas, on the comeback trail after having a third shoulder operation last year, beat Spain's Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-1. In the women's fourth-round action Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova, the fourth seed, preserved her perfect 2008 record with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko. Sharapova took 2hr 45min to extend her 2008 match winning streak to 17, a run that included her Aussie Open triumph and a tournament win in Doha. The Russian booked a quarterfinal clash with defending champion and fifth seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, a 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) winner over India's Sania Mirza. Top-seeded Serbian Ana Ivanovic, whose runner-up finish to Sharapova at the Australian Open propelled her to number two in the world, was tested by Italy's Francesca Schiavone but emerged with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory. In the quarterfinals she'll face Russian Vera Zvonareva, who ended the run of Australian Casey Dellacqua 6-7 (5-7), 6-0, 6-4. Second-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the quarter-finals with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki. Kuznetsova will face Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, who rallied to beat American Ashley Harkleroad 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Radwanska upset then world number two Kuznetsova at the Australian Open in January. Third-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic defeated Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 6-3 and next faces Lindsay Davenport. The US veteran, who is enjoying a resurgence since taking nearly a year off for the birth of her son, defeated sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli of France 6-2, 7
