Federer steams on as Safin stutters

MELBOURNE: Roger Federer stepped up his unrelenting charge toward a third successive Australian Open title with an emphatic win yesterday, but Venus Williams had to dig deep to reach the third round.

The Fed Express, chasing a 13th Grand Slam title, crushed wily Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, playing in a record 62nd major tournament, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 during a good-natured showdown.

In the evening match, 2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis came out on top of his big-hitting collision with moody Russian Marat Safin, the 2005 champion, crunching to a 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 win in a five-set classic.

The Cypriot 15th seed will now play Australian hero Lleyton Hewitt.

Federer's victory was his 16th consecutive win at the Australian Open and tees up a crack at Serbian Davis Cup team member Janko Tipsarevic in the next round.

"I always enjoy playing a match against Fabrice," said Federer, whose phenomenal shot-making was at its scintillating best on center court.

"In the first match I played against him he totally dismantled me, he can really show where he could hurt you.

"It was a pleasure to play, more so because of the score, but also for the way the game and the spirit in which it was played.

"He does a great job in making you doubt at times."

The victory stretched the world No 1's record over the 36th-ranked Santoro to 9-2 with four of his last five wins coming in Grand Slam tournaments.

It was a different story for Williams, seeded eighth, who had to dig deep to shake off tenacious Frenchwoman Camille Pin 7-5, 6-4.

Once again she showed glimpses of the power and athleticism that has won her six Grand Slams, but Williams admitted she tried to rush the game.

"At first, I think I wanted to rush a little bit too much. But finally, later in the second set, I finally realized, 'Whoa, she wants to run,'" the Wimbledon champion said.

"Well, let her run. So it became a side-to-side kind of thing, I finally got a little smarter in the last few games, I felt. So all in all, it was fine."

Williams now plays India's 31st seed Sania Mirza, who struggled against qualifier Timea Bacsinszky before sealing the match 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.

Fourth seed Ana Ivanovic swept into the third round with a empahtic win 6-0, 6-3 over Italy's Tathiana Garbin Thursday, establishing herself as the new darling of Melbourne Park on the way.

The Serbian beauty described her performance as "awesome".

Men's third seed Novak Djokovic outgunned Italian Simone Bolelli with another straight-sets demolition job.

It was another impressive effort from the 20-year-old Serb, who is seeded to face Federer in the semifinals.

"It's good to have a straight-sets win, it's what you want at a Grand Slam," Djokovic said. "I played well but I struggled a little bit in the third set with my serve."

Russian second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova is also through but admitted she had an off day as she struggled to a hard-fought win over Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova.

Kuznetsova started sluggishly but clawed her way back to a 7-5 (0), 6-2 victory over the world's 94th-ranked player.

"It was really hard, Tsvetana played really well and I just tried to stay in and play my best and in the end I came out a winner," she said.

The 22-year-old said her game simply failed to jell but she intended to improve during the season-opening Grand Slam.

Other players booking a place in the third round included 13th seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic and Spanish journeyman Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Baghdatis looked beaten after giving up a two-set lead against the never-say-die Safin, but found extra reserves in the fifth set to see off the Russian threat.

"Marat played great tennis in the third and fourth sets and I just tried to stay focused and serve big in the fifth," said Baghdatis.

AFP

(China Daily 01/18/2008 page24)