TENNIS:Roger Federer survived an almighty scare in Melbourne today to book his place in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. The Swiss star needed almost three-and-a-half hours to overcome a dogged Tomas Berdych as he fought back from two sets down to win 4-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-4 6-2.
The second seed will now play Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro, seeded eighth, who had a more convincing 5-7 6-4 6-4 6-2 win against Croatia’s Marin Cilic.
Andy Roddick, the seventh seed, is also through to the last eight after a 7-5 6-1 6-3 win over Spain’s Tommy Robredo, the 21st seed.
Federer looked in serious danger of failing to reach the quarter-finals of a grand slam for the first time since the French Open in 2004.
But he dug deep and showed all the experience of a 13-time grand slam champion to get past Berdych, who gave his all in a bid to reverse the run of defeats against the Swiss star, which now tops eight in nine meetings.
There were 11 breaks of serve in the match, with Federer hitting 61 winners to the Czech’s 58. Berdych also had two more unforced errors than his Swiss opponent who made 40.
But the most telling difference was the number of aces by each man with Federer firing down 20 and Berdych just eight.
Federer said there was no sense of panic when he went down two sets.
“I wasn’t thinking of losing, that’s for sure,” he said. “The finish line was still very far for Tomas. I knew that.
“I kind of felt after a terrible first set from my side that if I probably want to win this it’s going to go to five sets.
“That’s why I kind of was prepared for five from the start. I think that’s what made me be so determined towards the end. It was nice being in a battle with him. It was fair play. It was tough, good tennis towards the end. I believed in it all the way, and I think that was key in the end.”
Women’s top seed Jelena Jankovic admitted she was outplayed by her lesser-ranked opponent as she crashed out of the Australian Open in straight sets to Marion Bartoli.
Jankovic looked out of sorts from the start, going 5-0 behind before she survived two set-points to finally take her first game of a match she was to lose 6-1 6-4.
“I let her hit all the shots she wanted to,” said Jankovic. “I let her play her game. I didn’t do what I was supposed to. I couldn’t get my rhythm out there. I was really not there, for some reason. I don’t know why.”
Bartoli, who has now beaten Jankovic in their last three encounters for a 4-3 lead in head-to-head meetings, said: “I was really confident, because I played really well in my last match against (Lucie) Safarova.
“I knew I could beat Jelena on a good day. It was just a matter of executing it, playing the right shot at the right time and not making too many mistakes.”
Seventh seed Vera Zvonareva will play Bartoli in the quarter finals, after defeating fellow Russian Nadia Petrova 7-5 6-4.
Dinara Safina survived two match points on her way to a 6-2 2-6 7-5 win against Alize Cornet, and a place in the quarter-finals in Melbourne for the first time.