Miami Masters 2014: Roger Federer cruises through third round with 6-3 6-3 win over Thiemo de Bakker

Federer triumphs in just over an hour to set-up a fourth round tie against Richard Gasquet

Roger Federer shakes hands with Thiemo de Bakker after beating him 6-3 6-3 in Miami (Getty Images)

Roger Federer served up another comfortable victory in the Sony Open in Miami on Sunday, beating qualifier Thiemo de Bakker in straight sets.

The fifth seed and two-time former champion lost just seven points on his serve as he ran out a 6-3 6-3 winner in 63 minutes, setting up a clash with France's Richard Gasquet in the fourth round.

Ninth seed Gasquet saved all five break points he faced as he defeated 17th seed Kevin Anderson 6-3 6-4.

"We have played many times now and I'm not sure how he's playing right now," Federer said of Gasquet. "I have to find a little bit. He's got great game and gives himself time, that extra second of time on each shot.

"He's a good all-around player. With the wind and the slower conditions, it works quite well for him. I think it's going to be a tough match for me."

Defending champion Andy Murray also enjoyed a comfortable win on Sunday, the world number six extending his record against Feliciano Lopez to 9-0 with a 6-4 6-1 success.

Murray will face France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round after the 11th seed came back from 5-1 down in the second-set tie-break to beat Marcos Baghdatis 4-6 7-6 (8/6) 7-5.

Spain's fourth seed David Ferrer had a more comfortable time of things, beating Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3 6-2 in just an hour and 10 minutes in the evening's final match and ensuring there would be no repeat of Saturday's 2.30am finish involving Sam Stosur.

Tommy Robredo beat France's Julien Benneteau 6-3 6-4 while Kei Nishikori saw off Grigor Dimitrov in two close sets, 7-6 (7/1) 7-5.

The latter match was notable for an incident early in the second set when Dimitrov helped a ball girl off the court after noticing that she was feeling faint in the Florida heat.

In the women's event, Caroline Wozniacki produced a performance of real authority to beat hotly-tipped American Sloane Stephens 6-1 6-0 in under an hour.

The one game Stephens won was a service break, but 11th seed Wozniacki had her way with the 21-year-old's serve throughout.

With fiance Rory McIlroy watching from the stands, Wozniacki seemed keen to return to his company and allowed Stephens to win only five points in a hopelessly one-sided second set.

Venus Williams, by contrast, was kept on court for two hours and 18 minutes by Australian wild card Casey Dellacqua before finally prevailing 6-4 5-7 6-4.

Dellacqua had won 23 of her previous 27 matches and battled back from a set behind and from 4-2 down in the third, but Williams finally got over the line.

She will face 10th seed Dominika Cibulkova, who similarly needed almost two and a quarter hours to battle past France's Alize Cornet as she eventually won 7-6 (8/6) 6-4.

Other seeded players had a somewhat easier time, second seed Li Na beating American Madison Keys 7-6 (7/3) 6-3 and third seed Agnieszka Radwanska defeating Elena Vesnina 7-5 6-3. It was Li's first match in the tournament, following a first-round bye and a walkover against Alisa Kleybanova.

Varvara Lepchenko battled past Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4 6-7 (4/7) 7-6 (7/2) to set up a clash with Wozniacki, Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro won 6-2 6-1 against Estonia's Kaia Kanepi and Ukrainian Elina Svitolina beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 4-6 6-4 6-1.

PA