Monte Carlo, April 19:

Roger Federer eased past Lee Hyung-taik 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday in the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters. Federer, who has reached the quarter-finals at Monte Carlo three straight times, set up match point with a serve-and-volley winner and then earned the victory when Lee hit a powerful backhand long.

Lee broke the top-ranked Swiss star in the third game of the first set, but Federer broke back in the fourth and took control after that.

Federer, a 10-time Grand Slam champion, lost last year to Rafael Nadal in the final at both the Monte Carlo Masters and the French Open — the only major Federer has not won.

Federer next plays 12th-seeded David Ferrer of Spain, who has never won a set against Federer in five losses. Ferrer recovered from 4-1 down in the first set to beat No 6 Novak Djokovic of Serbia 7-5, 6-4.

Thursday’s match against Lee was played under cloudy skies, but Federer beat Andreas Seppi on Tuesday in bright sunshine. “I had a really quick court (for) the first match and a really slow court the second match,” Federer said. “It’s really good (that) I played in both conditions so I’m ready for anything.”

In other matches on Thursday, Tomas Berdych rallied to beat No 5 Tommy Robredo 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The 10th-seeded Czech will face Robin Soderling in quarter-finals. The Swede beat Max Mirnyi of Belarus 7-6 (5), 6-2.