TENNIS / US Open: "Roger Federer, Wimbledon champion." The most talented player on the men's circuit no longer has to make excuses about his past, or speculate about his future.

The 22-year-old Swiss, edging ever closer to becoming the world number one at the end of the year, and now bathed in confidence and self-belief, duly reached the last 16 of the US Open with a 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 third-round victory over American James Blake at Flushing Meadows.

This was potentially a difficult match for Federer because he was playing both Blake and the crowd.

The American may have hoped to catch him in one of his more brittle moods, but playing the Wimbledon champion for the first time merely underlined what Blake had noted when watching him from the sidelines. "He makes you play a little worse than you think you are, and a little worse than you should."

This was not vintage Federer, who missed 19 break points in the second set alone, but once he had won the tie-breaker, the fight drained out of Blake, who is beginning to slip towards the back of the brat pack chasing Andy Roddick.

For the past two years, Blake (23), has lost to Lleyton Hewitt here. "I'm getting tired of playing great tennis and being known more for my losses than my wins," he said. He should have a word with Tim Henman.

The American has talent, and is a fine, if somewhat overrated, athlete, but his control frequently lets him down. Federer, who is quicker than he is sometimes given credit for, was always in charge of the big points.

Television screens were flooded with replays of Federer's Wimbledon tears before the match, and will doubtless continue to be, although the Swiss world number two faces an awkward fourth-round match today against Argentina's David Nalbandian, who knocked out Australia's Mark Philippoussis, 7-5, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2.

Kim Clijsters, who has become the world number one without winning a slam, bristled with determination and concentration in her 6-2, 6-4 fourth-round victory over the American Meghann Shaughnessy.

Clijsters, who has had a tough draw, next plays Amelie Mauresmo in the quarter-finals, when the Belgian's burden of expectation will increase several notches. It was here last year in the fourth round that the French woman beat Clijsters, although she has lost their two meetings since, with Clijsters holding an overall 3-2 advantage.

Like Federer, before Wimbledon, Clijsters knows this is the time for deeds.