( CNN ) -- Roger Federer is hoping to fulfill a longtime dream by winning the only major tennis title that still eludes him -- Olympic singles gold . The world No . 1 moved into the third round of the London 2012 competition by beating France 's Julien Benneteau on Monday in a rematch of their Wimbledon clash last month . Federer came from 2-0 down to win that match in five sets before going on to equal Pete Sampras ' record of seven titles at the grass-court event , but this time had no such troubles as he cruised to a 6-2 6-2 victory at the same venue . The 17-time grand slam champion , who won gold in the doubles four years ago , next faces world No . 34 Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan . Federer , whose best singles performance was fourth place at Sydney 2000 , said he is inspired to emulate Swiss compatriot Marc Rosset 's 1992 gold . Why Federer 's friend flew the flag for Switzerland . `` ( It would be a ) dream come true , I would say , because I definitely get inspired by the 1992 victory by Marc Rosset . That was huge news in Switzerland . I definitely felt like I was inspired by that on an Olympic level , '' he said . `` So when I got the call in 2000 to be part of the Sydney Olympics 12 years ago , I got there , I stayed in the village . I was there for over two weeks . I had the best time following sports , being there with the athletes , playing so well . I almost overachieved in that tournament . Ever since it 's been something very important in my life . '' Federer and doubles partner Stanislas Wawrinka had a battle in the opening match of their title defense , coming from behind to beat Japan 's Kei Nishikori and Go Soeda 6-7 ( 5-7 ) 6-4 6-4 late in the evening . The sixth seeds will next play Israel 's Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich ahead of a potential quarterfinal against the top-ranked Bryan brothers of the U.S. -- who they beat in the Beijing semis . Former world No . 1 Novak Djokovic crashed out of the doubles competition as he and Serbian partner Viktor Troicki lost 7-6 ( 10-8 ) 6-3 to Sweden 's Johan Brunstrom and Robert Lindstedt . However , their third-seeded compatriots Janko Tipsarevic and Nenad Zimonjic won their first-round match , beating Slovakia 's Martin Klizan and Lukas Lacko 6-3 6-3 . An Arab springboard for success . Tipsarevic also progressed in the singles , coming from behind to beat Germany 's Philipp Petzschner 3-6 6-3 6-4 as he set up a third-round clash with American 10th seed John Isner . Isner ended the hopes of Tunisia 's Malek Jaziri , the only player from an Arab country in the men 's draw . Argentine eighth seed Juan Martin del Potro will play France 's No . 12 Gilles Simon in the last 16 , while Spanish 11th seed Nicolas Almagro takes on 75th ranked Steve Darcis of Belgium -- who upset former Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych in the first round . Former world No . 1 Andy Roddick set up a second-round clash with Djokovic , while Canada 's Milos Raonic earned a meeting with French fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga . Australia 's Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis battled into round two with three-set wins , while Argentine ninth seed Juan Monaco , Croatian No . 13 Marin Cilic , French No . 16 Richard Gasquet , Russia 's Nikolay Davydenko and Spaniard Feliciano Lopez also went through .
World No . 1 Roger Federer through to the last 16 of the Olympic singles tournament . He and Swiss partner Stanislas David win every set of their Olympic title defense . World No . 2 Novak Djokovic loses in his first - round doubles match alongside Viktor Troicki . The Serbian will play Andy Roddick in round two of the doubles after the American wins .