Tennis:Roger Federer crushed Belgium's Xavier Malisse 6-3 6-3 6-1 in brilliant sunshine to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open, putting his title defence firmly back on track. Federer will now meet Spain's Tommy Robredo in the next round.
The defending Melbourne champion, who came perilously close to a shock exit in the previous round, simply had too many weapons for Malisse, sweeping through in an hour and 45 minutes.
"For sure it's not the easiest thing to come back from a five-setter but I managed it," Federer said after shaking off the rust of his nail-biting win over Frenchman Gilles Simon. "Today was intense too. The first two sets almost didn't reflect how tough it was. I think that maybe broke his will a little bit.”
Another former champion, men's third seed Novak Djokovic, reached the fourth round when his friend and compatriot Viktor Troicki retired injured, while Andy Roddick came through an early scare to beat Robin Haase 2-6 7-6 6-2 6-2.
World number three Djokovic had just wrapped up the first set when fellow Serbian Troicki embraced him and called off the match after 39 minutes because of a stomach muscle injury.
Roddick came back from a set down to beat an impressive Haase, who took the game to the eighth seed in a manner that belied his status as world number 62. The American managed to overcome the Dutchman 7-2 in the second set tiebreak and from then on, enforced his power game over the 23-year-old Dutchman.
Ailing seven-time grand slam winner Justine Henin was denied another Australian Open fairytale when she was knocked out in the third round by Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The Belgian enjoyed a dream run to the final last year after a 20-month retirement, but her second comeback at Melbourne Park after a six-month layoff yielded only three painful matches and doubts about her recovery from a troublesome elbow injury.
"I know I'm not 100 per cent. I knew it before walking on the court," said Henin, runner-up to Serena Williams last year, after losing 6-4 7-6 to Kuznetsova. "That's why I say there are no excuses. I decided to play not being 100 per cent. It's been difficult in the last three days on my elbow and I just did everything that I could that it will be okay, but it wasn't enough."
The 2004 champion Henin, who damaged tendons in her elbow at Wimbledon, had needed extended practice to warm her arm up before each match and appeared a shadow of the nerveless net-rusher that shocked the field last year.
She sprayed 41 unforced errors against two-time grand slam champion Kuznetsova and struggled with her serve throughout.
Despite appearing down and out, she fought back gamely in the second set, breaking back twice to take an increasingly nervous Kuznetsova into a tiebreak. Although saving three match points, the first with a courageous return down the line, she slapped a forehand into the tramlines on the fourth to lose the tiebreak 10-8 and give a timely shot of confidence to a relieved Kuznetsova.
World number one Caroline Wozniacki also had her share of errors but moved comfortably into the fourth round with a 6-4 6-3 win over Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova before having a bit of fun with the media.
The 20-year-old Dane took charge of her post-match press conference, giving the answers to stock questions before they were asked before asking for more interesting inquiries. She then held forth on topics as diverse as Liverpool football club and global warming but inevitably the questions over her legitimacy as number one without a grand slam title were not banished altogether.
"I feel like I deserve to be there," she said. "I've done so well last year, and hopefully I can continue my roll this year. I know that you guys have to write about something, and that's a pretty good question to ask. But I think it's time to move on and ask some other questions now."
A fired-up Maria Sharapova strained her vocal chords to exhaustion as she fought off a stiff challenge from German Julia Goerges. Pumping her fist and bellowing "c'mon!", the former world number one dug herself out of a first-set hole and survived a late wobble before sealing the match 4-6 6-4 6-4 at Hisense Arena with a thumping serve in a shade under two-and-a-half hours.