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Paris - Roger Federer on Wednesday described Juan Martin del Potro as a French Open dark horse and insisted that had injury not sidelined the big Argentine in 2010, he could have been the Roland Garros champion.
The Swiss world No 3 is wary of the danger posed by a fully-fit Del Potro, which could be bad news for world No 2 Novak Djokovic, with the two men scheduled to meet in the third round in Paris.
Del Potro, who took Federer to five sets in the 2009 semi-finals, missed last year's Roland Garros with a wrist injury and was a doubt for this edition after suffering problems with his hip.
"If he hadn't been injured with his wrist, maybe he would have won the French Open last year," said Federer.
"I thought he played that well in 2009 against me in the semis, where I thought it was a real close match. So he's definitely got his chance - and it will be a good match against Novak. I hope it's going to happen."
Federer, whose 2009 title in Paris allowed him to complete a career Grand Slam, had little trouble making the third round on Wednesday.
The 16-time major winner won 13 games in succession to easily dispose of French wild card Maxime Teixeira 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 and will next face Serbian 29th seed Janko Tipsarevic, who beat Spain's Pere Riba.
His 84-minute stroll was a stark contrast to great rival Rafael Nadal's four-hour struggle to see off John Isner in the first round 24 hours earlier.
Five-time champion Nadal was two sets to one down before rallying to victory in his first ever five-set match at the French Open.
"We all know Isner's capabilities and he can play well on clay. Like Rafa said himself, I think he didn't play the two best tie-breakers in his life," said Federer.
"I think Rafa did really well to come back, and it was interesting to see him in his first five-setter in Paris. It's something special, something that's never happened before. So there was huge attention to see how he was going to come out of it."
On Wednesday, the Swiss great overcame an early break before breezing past Teixeira, who was playing in his first Grand Slam event and looked every inch the world 181.
"He fought really hard and was trying his best," said Federer.
Next up is Tipsarevic, the colourful Serb who stretched Federer to five sets in the 2008 Australian Open third round.
"He's a dangerous player, especially on the big courts against the big players," said Federer.
"I will have to be careful as he can vary his game from hard courts to clay courts."
