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Last year's Australian Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic suffered a 7-5 6-7 6-2 defeat to Russia's Alisa Kleybanova in the third round.

The match began as a baseline slugfest, until Ivanovic broke the deadlock, capitalising on her first break point opportunity to go up 5-3.

Kleybanova switched tactics and came to the net, setting up a four-game winning streak that gave her the first set.

Her stunning form continued when she broke Ivanovic for the third time in the opening game of the second set, holding her opponent to love in the next game for a 2-0 lead.

Urged on by the Melbourne Park crowd, Ivanovic desperately searched for a way back into the match but Kleybanova was relentless, breaking the Serb again to go ahead 3-0 when her opponent hit her return into the stands.

Seemingly down and out, Ivanovic bludgeoned her way back into the match in a rollercoaster set stretching 66 minutes where eight games went against serve.

Both players appeared exhausted at times but kept at each other in a fiercely competitive match.

Every time Ivanovic cancelled out a Kleybanova break, the Russian edged ahead again, coming within three points of sealing a win when she served at 5-4, only for the Serb to make her fourth break back of the set.

Ivanovic even had to stage a mini-comeback when the set went to a tie-break, trailing 3-1 but recovering to serve her way to a 7-5 win in the decider, sparking celebrations in the stands.

But Kleybanova refused to let her superstar opponent take the momentum in the third set, bringing up two break points in the second game and capitalising when Ivanovic netted a forehand return.

She held to lead 3-0. Yet again Ivanovic picked herself up off the canvas to break back, only to have Kleybanova break her again in the next game.

This time the Russian did not surrender her advantage, making her third and final break when Ivanovic served to try to stay in the match.

She next faces Jelena Dokic who, spurred on by a pumped-up capacity crowd, continued her fairytale run through with her second successive victory over a seeded player.

Dokic, riding high on the wave of public sympathy and support, upset Denmark's 11th seed Caroline Wozniacki 3-6 6-1 6-2.

The Australian's victory came hot on the heels of her second round win over Russian 17th seed Anna Chakvetadze, which was her first over a player in the top 20 in five years.

Wozniacki broke Dokic in the fourth game of the first set and established a 4-1 lead. She held on to the advantage to take the first set 6-3, despite some anxious moments in the final game when Dokic held three break points.

The former world number four, however, seemed to find an extra gear in the second set, breaking the Dane twice to go on a six-game winning streak.

That run only ended in the third set when Wozniacki broke her to tie at 1-1.

After the Dane held in the next game, Dokic set about demolishing her opponent by reeling off the next three games.

Dokic held three break points in the seventh game before finishing it off to give herself the chance to serve out the match.

The 25-year-old earned three match points and when Wozniacki's forehand sailed over the baseline, the crowd on Rod Laver Arena erupted.

Top seed Jelena Jankovic advanced after overcoming Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-4 6-4 in a baseline tussle.

Jankvoic gained a double break in the first set to lead 4-1 before Sugiyama fought back to 4-3. Her momentum ended there, however, and Jankovic sealed the set when Sugiyama netted a forehand smash.

The match developed into a slugfest, the set going with serve until the seventh game when Jankovic seized her first opportunity and broke to take a 4-3 lead.

The 33-year-old Sugiyama then took a medical time-out for treatment to her back and left leg, before the world number one went on to wrap up victory in an hour and 41 minutes.

The Serbian will next play France's Marion Bartoli, who beat the Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova in three sets.

Third seed Dinara Safina effortlessly advanced with an easy 6-2 6-2 victory over Estonia's Kaia Kanepi.

Safina exploited a poor service game from the 25th seed, who made just 40 per cent of her first serves and had 28 unforced errors.

Safina was never really troubled in the match, with Kanepi unable to exert any pressure on the Russian's serve, and she sealed victory when the Estonian hit a forehand into the net to end the 66-minute match.

The world number three will meet 15th seed Alize Cornet in the next round after the Frenchwoman outlasted 2008 semi-finalist and 19th seed Daniela Hantuchova 4-6 6-4 6-2.

The 10th-seeded Nadia Petrova sauntered through in double-quick time when Galina Voskoboeva quit after losing the first set 6-1. The Kazakh retired with a back injury.

She will next meet fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva who after a rare 'double bagel' rout of Edina Gallovits in the second round, continued her impressive advance with a 6-4 6-1 victory over Italy's Sara Errani.

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AFP / Reuters