Thaindian News

Melbourne, Jan 20 (IANS) Top seeds Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Caroline Wozniacki and Kim Clijsters had a comfortable outing on the fifth day of the Australian Open here Friday. They all recorded straight-set victories against their opponents in the third round and moved up.

Third-seeded Federer sailed into the fourth round, beating big serving Croat Ivo Karlovic 7-6(8), 7-5, 6-3. The Swiss maestro set-up a clash against local favourite 19-year-old Bernard Tomic, who edged out Ukranian Alexandr Dolgopolov in an epic five-setter. The Australian youngster backed by a huge home crowd won 4-6, 7-6(7-0), 7-6(8), 2-6, 6-3.

Nadal, who has been struggling with injuries, showed he is still one of the top contenders for the title and thrashed Slovakian Lukas Lacko 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. The second-seed Spaniard will now play compatriot Feliciano Lopez in the fourth round.

Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, too recorded a convincing victory to meet German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the next round. Delp Porto, seeded 11th, beat Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei 6-2, 6-3, 6-0 in an hour and 52 minutes.

In the women’s draw, World No.1 Wozniacki beat Romanian Monica Niculescu 6-2, 6-2 in an hour and 16 minutes. The Dane will have to overcome 13th seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in the fourth round to move a step closer towards her first Grand Slam title.

Defending champion Clijsters of Belgium too notched a convincing victory, beating Slovak Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 6-2 to set up an exciting clash against the reigning French Open champion Li Na.

The fifth-seeded Chinese had to spend just 28 minutes on the court as her Spanish opponent Anabel Medina Garrigues retired after three games.

The following are the fifth day results of the 2012 Australian Open:

Men’s Singles:
Bernard Tomic, Australia bt 13-Alexandr Dolgopolov, Ukraine, 4-6, 7-6(7-0), 7-6(8), 2-6, 6-3
18-Feliciano Lopez, Spain bt 16-John Isner, US, 6-3, 6-7(3-7), 6-4, 6-7(0-7), 6-1
7-Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic bt 30-Kevin Anderson, South Africa, 7-6(7), 7-6(7-1), 6-1
10-Nicolas Almagro, Spain bt 21-Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland, 7-6(7-2), 6-2, 6-4
Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany bt Alejandro Falla, Colombia, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(7-3)
3-Roger Federer, Switzerland bt Ivo Karlovic, Croatia, 7-6(8), 7-5, 6-3
2-Rafael Nadal, Spain bt Lukas Lacko, Slovakia, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2

Women’s singles:
13-Jelena Jankovic, Serbia, bt Christina McHale, United States, 6-2, 6-0
1-Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark, bt Monica Niculescu, Romania, 6-2, 6-2
11-Kim Clijsters, Belgium, bt Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakia, 6-3, 6-2
3-Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, bt Mona Barthel, Germany, 6-2, 6-4
8-Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland, bt Galina Voskoboeva, Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-2