Roger Federer: 'Jeremy Chardy performance made win easier'

Roger Federer has admitted that his second-round victory over Jeremy Chardy at the Monte Carlo Masters was made easier by the Frenchman's lacklustre performance.

The second seed earned an emphatic 6-2 6-1 victory on Wednesday, seeing off Chardy with less than an hour on the clock.

Despite reaching four finals in Monte Carlo, Federer has never won the tournament.

"I thought Jeremy didn't serve very well, and I felt good on the return," he told the ATP's official website. "So I was in a lot of the service games when he was serving. Then I thought I served well, had a high first serve percentage and was able to control the baseline. On clay, things move ahead very quickly, I must say."

Federer will now meet Gael Monfils for a place in the quarter-finals.