Although not at his peak, Federer was a cut above Malisse as he beat the Belgian 6-3 6-1 6-1 to win a record 57th match at the Australian Open, beating the old mark of Sweden's Stefan Edberg.
But the world No 2 said the score did not reflect the match, especially as he fought back from 3-1 down in the second set before winning the next 11 games.
"I thought today was intense too," he said. "The first two sets almost didn't reflect how tough it was. I think that maybe broke his will a little bit, because he was up 3-1 in the second."
Federer had a simple passage through to the fourth round, and No 3 seed Novak Djokovic's progression was even easier.
The 2008 champion continued his low-key path to the fourth round when his Serbian Davis Cup teammate Viktor Troicki retired from their third-round match with a stomach injury after losing the first set 6-2.
Eighth seed Andy Roddick came back from a set down to beat Robin Haase in four, while No 6 Tomas Berdych beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-2 7-6 (7-3) 6-2.
Roddick pounced on Haase's lapse in the second-set tiebreak to take control of the match for an easy win, 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 6-2.
Haase had dominated the eighth seed for the first two sets but two rare double faults in the tiebreak gave Roddick the edge and the momentum.
"It was pretty apparent I needed that to turn it," Roddick said.
No comments:
Post a Comment