Tennis:Roger Federer will play his recent nemesis Nikolay Davydenko in the quarter-finals at the Australian Open after the Swiss brushed aside local hope Lleyton Hewitt this morning. The AUstralian was no match for the world number one who produced a masterclass performance to win 6-2 6-3 6-4 under the lights at Rod Laver Arena.
It was an ominous warning for his rivals, not the least Davydenko, who has beaten the Swiss in their previous two meetings.
The in-form Russian has said this week that he is the player the top seeds are scared of, however there was little trepidation in the manner with which
Federer swept to victory against the Australian former world number one.
“I am happy to get through because Lleyton is a great competitor,” said Federer who has now beaten the Australian in each of their previous 15 matches.
“He’s a champion, you always go through some tough moments against him. I’m on an incredible run against him.”
Looking forward to his match with Davydenko, Federer added: “He played very well the last couple of times we’ve played.
“I’ve always had tough ones against him. He’s really picked up his game, he used to have issues on serve but now that’s gone.
“I just hope I can get the better of him in five-set play.”
Federer dominated on serve against Hewitt and did not allow one break point against his delivery in the first two sets.
That focused the pressure on Hewitt’s serve and he was broken in the sixth game to go behind 4-2.
Federer then served to love before breaking again to take the first set with a ripped forehand cross-court winner.
The second set followed a similar pattern although Federer got his break earlier, in the fourth game, after a costly double fault from Hewitt had allowed him a break point.
The Australian was battling hard but was getting little reason for optimism as Federer passed him at will with some stunning strokeplay.
Hewitt tried a last-ditch recovery in the final set when he broke back to level at 4-4, but Federer’s class told again as he immediately recovered the advantage before serving out the match.
Davydenkosurvived a scare against Fernando Verdascobefore finally reaching the last eight.
The Russian has looked in imperious form in the early rounds in Melbourne and seemed on course for another comfortable win as he went two sets up against the Spaniard.
However, Verdasco came storming back to take the match into a deciding fifth set - before Davydenko managed to finally see out the win 6-2 7-5 4-6 6-7 (5/7) 6-3.
Meanwhile, Jo-Wilfried Tsongaset up a rematch of the 2008 Australian Open final with a thrilling five-set victory in Melbourne this morning.
Tsonga beat Nicolas Almagro6-3 6-4 4-6 6-7 (6/8) 9-7 to progress to a quarter-final meeting with Novak Djokovic, the man who dashed his title dream here two years ago.
Serve dominated the contest on the Hisense Arena with a solitary break in each of the first three sets deciding them.
Almagro, whose first-serve percentage was a highly impressive 77 per cent come the end, continued his fightback in the fourth.
With no breaks, a tie-break resulted, Almagro claiming it 8-6 to push Tsonga into a fifth set for the first time in his career.
Serve continued to hold sway in the decider but after 15 consecutive service holds, Almagro cracked in game 16.
Having got to deuce, Tsonga let rip with one of his trademark off forehands - his 76th winner of the match - and on the following point another forehand set up a volley which he put away to set up his clash with third seed Djokovic, who had earlier eased to another routine win to reach the last eight.
The 2008 champion needed less than two hours to claim a 6-1 6-2 7-5 win over the world number 86 Lukasz Kubot.
Kubot became the first Polish player to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam since Wotjek Fibak at Roland Garros in 1982 after Mikhail Youzhny pulled out on the eve of their third-round match due to a wrist injury.
The 27-year-old could not make the most of his fortune though as he was easily brushed aside by Djokovic.
The Serbian broke his rival twice in the opening set before clinching it with an ace in 28 minutes.
The second set did not take long either with Djokovic wrapping it up in 33 minutes before Kubot at least provided some resistance.
The Pole was level at 5-5 in the third set but disappointingly handed Djokovic the break with a double fault.
The Serb served the match out completing a comfortable afternoon with a forehand winner.
Australian Open Collated Results, Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia
Men's Singles Fourth Round: (1) Roger Federer (Swi) bt (22) Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) 6-2 6-3 6- 4, (6) Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) bt (9) Fernando Verdasco (Spa) 6-2 7-5 4-6 6-7 (5-7) 6-3, (3) Novak Djokovic (Ser) bt Lukasz Kubot (Pol) 6-1 6-2 7-5, (10) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) bt (26) Nicolas Almagro (Spa) 6-3 6-4 4-6 6-7 (6-8) 9-7
Women's Singles Fourth Round:(1) Serena Williams (USA) bt (13) Samantha Stosur (Aus) 6-4 6-2, (7) Victoria Azarenka (Blr) bt (9) Vera Zvonareva (Rus) 4-6 6-4 6-0, (16) Na Li (Chn) bt (4) Caroline Wozniacki (Den) 6-4 6-3, (6) Venus Williams (USA) bt (17) Francesca Schiavone (Ita) 3-6 6-2 6-1
Men's Doubles Third Round:Michael Kohlmann (Ger) & Jarkko Nieminen (Fin) bt Simone Bolelli (Ita) & Andreas Seppi (Ita) 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (8-6), Fernando Gonzalez (Chi) & Ivan Ljubicic (Cro) bt (11) Simon Aspelin (Swe) & Paul Hanley (Aus) 6-4 6-3, (3) Lukas Dlouhy (Cze) & Leander Paes (Ind) bt John Isner (USA) & Sam Querrey (USA) 6-3 7-5
Women's Doubles Third Round: (15) Maria Kirilenko (Rus) & Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) bt (3) Nuria Llagostera Vives (Spa) & Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (Spa) 6-1 6-2, (6) Lisa Raymond (USA) & Rennae Stubbs (Aus) bt Yung-Jan Chan (Tpe) & Monica Niculescu (Rom) 7-5 6-3, (8) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) & Zi Yan (Chn) bt (9) Elena Vesnina (Rus) & Jie Zheng (Chn) 6-4 6-4
Mixed Doubles First round: Raquel Kops-Jones (USA) & Dick Norman (Bel) bt (5) Maria Kirilenko (Rus) & Nenad Zimonjic (Ser) 6-3 3-6 11-9
Second Round: (1) Cara Black (Zim) & Leander Paes (Ind) bt Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb) & Rik De Voest (Rsa) 6-4 6-2, (8) Elena Vesnina (Rus) & Andy Ram (Isr) bt Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Ger) & Christopher Kas (Ger) 3-6 7-5 10-6, Chia-Jung Chuang (Tpe) & Filip Polasek (Svk) bt (3) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) & Bob Bryan (USA) 7-5 7-6 (7-4), Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova (Cze) & Oliver Marach (Aut) bt (6) Alisa Kleybanova (Rus) & Max Mirnyi (Blr) 3-6 6-3 10-7, Flavia Pennetta (Ita) & Marcelo Melo (Bra) bt Jarmila Groth (Aus) & Samuel Groth (Aus) 6-2 6-3, Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) & Jaroslav Levinsky (Cze) bt (2) Daniela Hantuchova (Svk) & Daniel Nestor (Can) w/o
Junior Boy's Singles First Round: (11) Renzo Olivo (Arg) bt Tom Allen (Gbr) 6-2 5-7 6-1
Junior Girl's Singles First Round:Laura Robson (Gbr) bt Belinda Woolcock (Aus) 6-0 6-1
Junior Boy's Doubles First Round: Victor Baluda (Rus) & Richard Muzaev (Rus) bt Cedrick Commin (Fra) & Oliver Golding (Gbr) 7-5 6-3, Tom Allen (Gbr) & Jack Carpenter (Gbr) bt Suk-Young Jeong (Kor) & Jung-Woong Na (Kor) 6-1 6-3