Australian Open - Men: Easy for Federer

Eurosport - Fri, 23 Jan 21:11:00 2009

Roger Federer stayed on track for a record-equalling 14th Grand Slam title as he swatted aside former champion Marat Safin in the third round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

TENNIS 2009 Australian Open Safin M. - Federer R. - 0

The anticipated clash of tennis juggernauts failed to materialise as the Swiss totally dominated the match between former world number ones to win 6-3 6-2 7-6 under floodlights.

Serbia's Novak Djokovic recovered from dropping his first set of the tournament to beat American Amer Delic 6-2 4-6 6-3 7-6.

The defending champion lost the second set after a brief lapse in concentration but regained his composure to win the next two, despite being pushed to a tiebreaker in the fourth.

Delic, who was promoted to the main draw as a lucky loser when Nicolas Kiefer pulled out, troubled the world number three with his booming serve but Djokovic's big-match experience proved decisive.

Djokovic's next opponent will be 97-ranked Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, who disposed of 23-seeded American Mardy Fish in straight sets 6-2 6-4 6-4.

Fish made too many unforced errors, seeking to come in close far too often and giving away points as a result.

Backed by a vociferous following in the stands, Baghdatis - who, like Fish, struggled on his serve - took a more measured approach to seal the win.

Seventh seed Andy Roddick brought Fabrice Santoro's last Australian Open appearance to an end with a 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory.

The 36-year-old Frenchman, who was the oldest man in the main draw, has said that 2009 is his final year on the ATP Tour.

Roddick had no sentimentality for the wily French player who was appearing in his 66th Grand Slam tournament, blasting him off court in 98 minutes, slamming down 22 aces in the process.

Santoro was loudly cheered by a small contingent of French fans and given a bottle of champagne at a special presentation by tournament director Craig Tiley after the match on the secondary show court on Hisense Arena.

Roddick will meet Spain's Tommy Robredo in the fourth round after he comfortably beat Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun 6-1 6-3 6-2.

Spain's David Ferrer, the 11th seed who was beaten by Djokovic in the quarter-finals last year, crashed out to Croatia's Marin Cilic 7-6 6-3 6-4.

Cilic will now meet dangerous Argentine eighth seed Juan Martin del Potro who came from a set down to beat Luxembourg's Gilles Muller 6-7 7-5 6-3 7-5.

In a match lasting almost three-and-a-half hours, del Potro weathered some brilliant serving from Muller to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time, surpassing his third-round effort at the US Open in 2006.

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Reuters / AFP

Comment 39 - 58 of 58

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  1. You're on. An imaginary fiver it is. Fair comment­ on Robredo. Cheers

    From rhymes450, on Sat 24 Jan 9:31AM

  2. Rhymes,i have to go with Gonzo,the reason bieng,my­ girlfriend is Chilean ! I'm going to stick with­ Cilic also,so i will wager you an imaginary fiver on­ that one !Muller gave Del Potro plenty to worry about,i­ expect Cilic to have a little more,should be a­ cracker.I fear poor Tommy is going to see the dreaded­ 10-0, the guy has a silky smooth game,lovely backhand­ and a surprisingly effective volley,just no big­ weapon.Looking forward to Nadal Haas,if haas grits his­ teeth,he might make it competitive for a set or two.

    From carlos480bc, on Sat 24 Jan 12:19AM

  3. post51, you clearly know nothing about tennis and­ besides federer was right to say murray has not­ improved

    From ANONYMOUS, on Fri 23 Jan 11:56PM

  4. Carlos - Given his quality and the way he's going­ thro' the tournament, you'd be inclined to give­ Robredo a fair chance against Roddick but the head to­ heads suggest otherwise (9-0 and Robredo has only won­ only one set out of twenty something. It's­ unbelievably one-sided stuff). Roddick even beat him on­ clay in Rome last year! He'll be praying that­ Roddick's serve is off. Call it intuition, a sixth­ sense, the law of averages, gross stupidity,­ partiality... whatever, but I think Robredo's got a­ bit of a chance. I remember you picking Cilic as a good­ outside bet and he's giving value for money.­ I'll go with Del Potro, just for the heck of it and­ maybe also because I've seen a lot more of him than­ I have of Cilic. Haven't seen Djoko since the­ Masters Cup. He'll want to be firing on all­ cylinders off the ground. If he is, he'll be a very­ serious contender. The Delic match must have been­ tough, with all the issues surrounding it, so I guess­ he'll just be glad to have it out of the way. I­ think Fed has actually been playing quite well recently­ and since Flushing Meadows has really only lost to two­ players, both of whom have been in exceptional form,­ and in pretty tight matches. His form is much better­ now than it was going into Flushing Meadows IMO. I feel­ that anyone who wants to take him out here is going to­ have to play very very well. Some great players around­ and a fair bit to go yet tho'. Some super match-ups­ in the top half of the draw tonite. Mario Ancic could­ give Gilles Simon a fair bit to think about and the­ Gasquet/Gonzo match should be good. Things are warming­ up nicely. Cheers

    From rhymes450, on Fri 23 Jan 11:43PM

  5. Post 51,have a word with yourself.Ungracious ? Do you­ recall Federer being humiliated in last years French­ Open Final,and then his gracious and kind words for the­ man that annihilated him,or at the end of­ Wimbledon,being dethroned by the same man in­ heartbreaking fashion to end his reign after 5­ years,AND STILL offered his conqueror worthy praise.The­ man is not perfect,what more do you want from him ?He­ has been a model ambassador for the sport,and continues­ to be.Has it occurred to you that his comments about­ Murray,are an honest appraisal of where he thinks the­ lads game is right now ?

    From carlos480bc, on Fri 23 Jan 11:15PM

  6. @johntheking ,,if he continues to play like this he­ will have like 17 g.slams at the end of the­ season...
    great job rog. keep up the good work

    From Jane, on Fri 23 Jan 10:38PM

  7. If he's going to play like this he will get his­ 14th GS. GO FED!!!!!!!

    From johntheking, on Fri 23 Jan 10:16PM

  8. Post 51
    Blimey your a bit fickle........
    Alison.

    From Nicholas, on Fri 23 Jan 10:10PM

  9. A has-been beating a very-has-been (yawn)

    From Half A Brain, on Fri 23 Jan 8:47PM

  10. I have always been a keen fan of Roger Federer until­ now because of his brilliant play and demeanour on and­ off court. However, his ungracious comments about Andy­ Murray and refusal to accept Murray's improvement­ as a player and that he is a challenger for this and­ the other grand slams has changed my mind. Clearly he­ is a bad sport and not worthy of the admiration heaped­ on him by his fans across the world. I hope he fails­ to win this tournement.

    From d, on Fri 23 Jan 8:40PM

  11. Well, what is easy. But Roger was really playing a­ great match. And what is also true, that he has by far­ the toughest draw from the top 4!!! But he plays really­ convincingly.

    From ya, on Fri 23 Jan 8:26PM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Mr. Boring was lucky Marat wasn't at his best.­ History has shown that when Marat is playing his best­ NOBODY can beat him

    From tom h, on Fri 23 Jan 8:22PM

  13. THIS -- HEADLINE IS WRONG ..........!

    IT WAS A TOUGH­ FIGHT FOR FEDERER TO PROGRESS .........!

    From susan4campbell, on Fri 23 Jan 7:40PM

  14. WELL POSTED ALISON.
    ALISON.

    From Nicholas, on Fri 23 Jan 7:33PM

  15. ROGER IS BACK TO HIS BEST SO LOOK OUT REST OF THE PACK.­ ROGER RAFA FINAL I THINK OR HOPE ANYWAY.

    From AJ, on Fri 23 Jan 6:53PM

  16. Biggy, what is wrong with you ?

    From ola azmy, on Fri 23 Jan 6:33PM

  17. Jippy, what is wrong with you ?

    From ola azmy, on Fri 23 Jan 6:32PM

  18. djok should be banned --banned - for NOT making­ some small attempt to surpress his ­ """Fans""

    COMMEMDABLE DELIC ­ DID SOMETHING TO HELP AT LEAST

    From susan4campbell, on Fri 23 Jan 6:08PM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I hate losers like you, who are for Federer, just­ because he was the best at his time. Why you aren't­ a big Roddick's, Safin's, Santoro's fan?­ Me, I'm with Djokovic from the moment he was no 40­ in the world, and with Tsonga from the moment when he­ beated Murray, no matter they lose or not... but you,­ you are just idiots.

    From IlDoctore, on Fri 23 Jan 6:05PM

  20. gongrats to federer who was real class today but i have­ to gongratulate baghdatis more because i can see him­ playing in a really good level lately and i am glad for­ him

    From Varnavas P, on Fri 23 Jan 5:59PM
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