Roger Federer of Switzerland returns to Spain's Albert Montanes during their third-round match on Saturday. (Mark Baker/Associated Press)Roger Federer and Serena Williams are headed to the fourth round of the Australian Open on Monday after winning in straight sets over their Spanish opponents.
Federer beat Fernando Montanes 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and Williams defeated Carla Suarez Navarro 6-0, 6-3 in Saturday action in Melbourne.
Federer has won three of his record 15 Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and improved his record to 50-7 in Melbourne. One of those seven losses came in last year's final to Rafael Nadal, the Spanish left-hander's first Grand Slam title on hard courts.
"I feel good, I feel confident," Federer said. "Pretty straightforward match. Physically I'm fine and mentally fresh and that's the way you want to go into the second week."
Williams, who beat Dinara Safina in last year's final, needed a marathon final game of the opening set Saturday to clinch it, facing five break points, 13 deuces and won on her eighth set point. The final game lasted nearly 20 minutes — longer than the five previous games combined in the 37-minute set.
By that point, Federer and Montanes were in the fifth game of their second set.
"I think it was definitely the toughest six-love set, especially in the end because she was really fighting for it," Williams said. "I thought, 'OK, Serena, don't put too much pressure on this. Worst-case scenario it will be 5-1."'
After she missed her seventh set point, pushing a backhand too long, the top-ranked Williams dropped into a sitting position on the court with a look of disbelief.
Suarez Navarro had upset Serena's sister Venus last year in Melbourne.
Venus advanced on Saturday when she beat Australian wild-card entry Casey Dellacqua 6-1, 7-6 (4), winning on her fourth match point with an ace. The Williams siblings could meet in the semifinals but Venus must first overcome Francesca Schiavone of Italy, who beat Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-2, 6-2.
Venus is thinking final, which would mean beating Serena along the way.
"Of course I want to progress well to the final, that is my goal," Venus said. "So far, I'm getting closer. You know how it works. Just got to play well every match."
First, Venus must play Italy's Francesca Schiavone, with Serena battling local product Sam Stosur.
Stosur defeated Italian Alberta Brianti 6-4, 6-1, while Schiavone ousted No. 10 Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-2.
No. 7 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus had a 6-0, 6-2 win over Italy's Tathiana Garbin to set up a fourth-round match against No. 9 Vera Zvonareva of Russia, who beat Argentina's Gisela Dulko 6-1, 7-5.
Australia's top player, former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, advanced when 2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis had to retire with a right shoulder injury with Hewitt leading 6-0, 4-2 in a night match that lasted just 54 minutes at Rod Laver Arena.
"I just said to him, 'mate you've got a lot of ticker [heart] to come back like you did today,"' Hewitt said he told Baghdatis when the Cypriot player came to the net to retire.
Baghdatis had clutched his shoulder during changeovers and motioned to his coach that he was having difficulty breathing due to the pain.
"I just feel some pain on the shoulder — I couldn't hit the forehand," Baghdatis said. "I couldn't control the ball."
Hewitt now plays Federer in the fourth round. He usually gives the Swiss star a rigorous match before going down to defeat. Hewitt has lost 14 in a row to Federer after winning seven of the first nine times they met in the early '00s.
Nikolay Davydenko, Federer's potential quarter-final opponent, extended his impressive winning run with a 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 30 Juan Monaco of Argentina.
Davydenko will next face Fernando Verdasco of Spain. Verdasco advanced when Austria's Stefan Koubek retired due to a virus after losing the first set 6-1.
No. 3-ranked Novak Djokovic, who beat Federer in the semifinals en route to his 2008 title here, defeated Denis Istomin 6-1, 6-1, 6-2. Earlier, No. 20 Mikhail Youzhny withdrew from his scheduled third-round match against Poland's Lukasz Kubot with a wrist injury. Kubot advanced in a walkover and will play Djokovic.
Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who lost the final to Djokovic in 2008, beat Tommy Haas of Germany 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 in a night match. Tsonga will play Nicolas Almagro of Spain, who beat Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
