Roger Federer crushed 13th seed Tomas Berdych 6-4 7-6 6-3 to steady his Australian Open title defence and move into the last eight in Melbourne.

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The top seed, bidding for his 13th grand slam title and third successive Australian Open crown, saved two set points in the second before advancing to a clash with American 12th seed James Blake.

Having squeezed past Janko Tipsarevic 10-8 in the final set in round three, Federer convincingly won the first set against Berdych but slipped 3-0 down in the second before breaking back to force a tiebreak.

The Czech led 5-2 in the tie-break and squandered two set points, netting a terrible drop shot at 6-5 and sending a forehand long at 7-6 before Federer won it 9-7.

The Swiss eased through the third set and sealed victory in just under two hours.

Blake, meanwhile, reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final outside the United States with a solid 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory over Croatia's Marin Cilic.

The 12th seed had too much power and finesse for his 19-year-old opponent, seizing three of his five break opportunities, and he sealed victory on his first match point with a strong serve that Cilic returned into the net.

American Blake, 28, had made the fourth round on three previous occasions at Melbourne Park and has never got past the third round at the French Open or Wimbledon. He reached the US Open quarter-finals in 2005 and 2006.

Blake, who helped his country win the Davis Cup last year, won his first match after recovering from a two-set deficit in the third round when he beat Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean.

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Reuters