Federer Extends Grand Slam Run

Federer  extended his incredible run of Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances Sunday with  a fourth-round win at the French Open, but had to dig  deep in  a five-set  thriller against Frenchman Gilles  Simon to  do it. Federer  pulled  out a  6-1, 4-6, 2-6,  6-2, 6-3 triumph on Court Chatrier to advance to the second week at Roland Garros, pushing his consecutive string of major  quarterfinal appearances to 36 -- or basically nine straight years. The Swiss superstar last failed to reach the round of eight in a Grand Slam at the 2004  French Open when he lost to Gustavo Kuerten in the third round. Another Frenchman awaits in the quarters, as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga advanced Sunday with a 6-3,  6-3, 6-3  pasting of Serbia's Viktor Troicki. Spaniards David Ferrer and Tommy  Robredo were also fourth-round winners Sunday. The fourth-seeded Ferrer needed an 1 hour and  45 minutes to  dispatch South Africa's Kevin Anderson, 6-3,  6-1, 6-1, while Robredo became just the second man to come back from 0-2 down in three  straight Grand Slam matches  when he escaped with a 6-7 (5-7), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory over fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro.

On the women's side, Serena Williams continued her romp through the draw with a  6-1, 6-3 rout  of Italy's Roberta Vinci. Williams has dropped just 10 games in her  first four matches and will next  play Russian  veteran  Svetlana Kuznetsova  in  the quarterfinals. Kuznetsova, the 2009 French champ, knocked off eighth-seeded German Angelique Kerber,  6-4, 4-6, 6-3. Fifth-seeded Sara Errani  rallied  for a three-set  win over Carla  Suarez Navarro and will next play fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over 2008 champ Ana Ivanovic.