Men: Easy for Federer

The anticipated clash of tennis juggernauts failed to materialise as the Swiss totally dominated the match between former world number ones to win 6-3 6-2 7-6 under floodlights.

Serbia's Novak Djokovic recovered from dropping his first set of the tournament to beat American Amer Delic 6-2 4-6 6-3 7-6.

The defending champion lost the second set after a brief lapse in concentration but regained his composure to win the next two, despite being pushed to a tiebreaker in the fourth.

Delic, who was promoted to the main draw as a lucky loser when Nicolas Kiefer pulled out, troubled the world number three with his booming serve but Djokovic's big-match experience proved decisive.

Djokovic's next opponent will be 97-ranked Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, who disposed of 23-seeded American Mardy Fish in straight sets 6-2 6-4 6-4.

Fish made too many unforced errors, seeking to come in close far too often and giving away points as a result.

Backed by a vociferous following in the stands, Baghdatis - who, like Fish, struggled on his serve - took a more measured approach to seal the win.

Seventh seed Andy Roddick brought Fabrice Santoro's last Australian Open appearance to an end with a 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory.

The 36-year-old Frenchman, who was the oldest man in the main draw, has said that 2009 is his final year on the ATP Tour.

Roddick had no sentimentality for the wily French player who was appearing in his 66th Grand Slam tournament, blasting him off court in 98 minutes, slamming down 22 aces in the process.

Santoro was loudly cheered by a small contingent of French fans and given a bottle of champagne at a special presentation by tournament director Craig Tiley after the match on the secondary show court on Hisense Arena.

Roddick will meet Spain's Tommy Robredo in the fourth round after he comfortably beat Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun 6-1 6-3 6-2.

Spain's David Ferrer, the 11th seed who was beaten by Djokovic in the quarter-finals last year, crashed out to Croatia's Marin Cilic 7-6 6-3 6-4.

Cilic will now meet dangerous Argentine eighth seed Juan Martin del Potro who came from a set down to beat Luxembourg's Gilles Muller 6-7 7-5 6-3 7-5.

In a match lasting almost three-and-a-half hours, del Potro weathered some brilliant serving from Muller to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time, surpassing his third-round effort at the US Open in 2006.