Roger Federer eased past Norway’s Casper Ruud 6-3 6-1 7-6 (10-8) on Friday to become the oldest male player to reach the fourth round at the French Open in almost 50 years.

Playing in his 400th Grand Slam match, the 37-year-old showed little mercy to his 20-year-old Norwegian opponent, whose father Christian reached the third round when Federer first played at Roland Garros as a wild card entrant in 1999.

Federer needed little more than an hour to pick up the first two sets, but a rare lapse in the Federer concentration allowed Ruud, ranked 63 in the world, to pick up an early break in the third set.

The Swiss reeled the youngster back in, forcing the game to a tie-break where he squandered three match points before winning 10-8.

Federer was making his first appearance at Roland Garros since he reached the quarter-finals in 2015.

He withdrew from the event in 2016 and missed the entire clay court season in 2017 and 2018 to focus on grass.

The Swiss is vying for his second French Open title 10 years after his first in 2009 and to set a record for the longest gap between winning a second title at a grand slam in the Open era.

He will meet either French wild card Nicolas Mahut or Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer in the fourth round.