AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Venue: Melbourne Park Date: 18-31 January
BBC coverage: Every Murray match live on BBC 1 or 2
Daily from 0830 GMT: live on BBC Red Button/website, 5 Live sports extra
Daily from 0000 GMT: text commentary on BBC Sport website

Federer had the Rod Laver Arena crowd on its feet during a fine display

World number one Roger Federer hit top form to crush Albert Montanes and reach the Australian Open last 16.

The three-time champion dominated his Spanish opponent, breaking the 31st seed once in each set and facing no break points against his own serve.

Federer won 6-3 6-4 6-4 and now meets Australian Lleyton Hewitt, who was leading 6-0 4-2 against Marcos Baghdatis when the Cypriot retired.

Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are also through.

Third seed Djokovic thrashed Denis Istomin 6-1 6-1 6-2, while sixth seed Davydenko claimed a 6-0 6-3 6-4 victory over Juan Monaco.

Davydenko's fourth-round opponent will be Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, who advanced when Stefan Koubek of Austria retired due to sickness after losing the first set 6-1.

France's Tsonga, the 2008 beaten finalist, came from a break down in the fourth set to beat Tommy Haas 6-4 3-6 6-1 7-5.

Federer's win was his 50th at the Australian Open and keeps him in contention for a fourth title.

I just feel some pain on the shoulder. I couldn't hit the forehand, I couldn't control the ball Marcos Baghdatis

"He didn't make many mistakes, I expected him to miss a bit more," said the Swiss of Montanes.

"I needed to make sure I served well because if I had a hiccup on serve it could have been an even closer game.

"I feel good, I feel confident. Physically I'm fine and fresh and that's how you want to feel going into the second week."

Federer converted his only break-point opportunity in game four of the opening set and the second set was another cagey affair before Federer broke at 4-4 and served out.

The 15-time Grand Slam champion, contesting his 11th successive Australian Open, claimed another break at the start of the third to coast into round four.

Federer will play Hewitt in the next round after Baghdatis was forced to retire because of a shoulder injury with the Australian leading 6-0 4-2 in their third-round match.

Hewitt was in impressive form on the Rod Laver Arena, breaking Baghdatis three times in the opening set while the Cypriot made 12 unforced errors.

MEN'S FOURTH ROUND Federer v Hewitt Verdasco v Davydenko Djokovic v Kubot Tsonga v Almagro Roddick v Gonzalez Cilic v Del Potro Murray v Isner Karlovic v Nadal

Baghdatis received treatment to the right shoulder but after being broken in the sixth game of the second set, he decided he could not continue.

"I just feel some pain on the shoulder. I couldn't hit the forehand," said Baghdatis. "I couldn't control the ball.

"I had a bit of pain but I'm used to pain. I didn't think that it would be this painful during the match."

The contest was in stark contrast to the last time the pair met in Melbourne. In 2008 they fought out a marathon five-set epic which finished at 4.30am local time.

Djokovic, the 2008 champion, dropped the first set of his second-round match against Marco Chiudinelli earlier in the week but he was in command from the outset against Istomin.

"At some stage in the tournament you want to have a straight sets win, an easy win, so you can get fast off the court and try to save all the energy as much as you can for the upcoming challenges, which are obviously going to be more difficult," said Djokovic.

"So it was good to have the match like this. He was helping me out with a lot of unforced errors, and basically we didn't have a lot have long rallies."

Awaiting the 22-year-old Serb in the last 16 is Poland's Lukasz Kubot, who received a third-round walkover after his opponent, Russia's Mikhail Youzhny, withdrew from the tournament with a right wrist injury.

Along with Kubot and Hewitt, Verdasco was another beneficiary of an injury when Koubek decided he could not continue.

"I want to play more to get more rhythm for the next round," admitted the Spaniard, who reached the semi-finals last year.

"But it's not bad also to win fast, and have one day even more to recover. Because the next round is gonna be so difficult against Davydenko."

606: DEBATE Such a shame that Tommy had to chuck in a brain short-circuit just as it looked like we were going to get a quality fifth set Biscuits

Davydenko, Federer's potential quarter-final opponent, extended his impressive winning run to 12 matches by ousting 30th seed Monaco of Argentina.

The Russian can count wins against Federer and Rafael Nadal at both the 2009 World Tour Finals in London and this season's opening event at Doha among his winning streak.

"I am feeling very good confident now," said 28-year-old Davydenko, who is yet to drop a set in Melbourne.

"Before, I didn't want to tell you guys, yes I can win and I want to win a Grand Slam. But this level, if I keep it up, maybe I have a chance to win.

"I am fighting for every point and that's why maybe it was six-love in the first set and then three-love. I didn't make any mistake in those nine games."

In the men's doubles, British pair Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski suffered disappointment as they were beaten 3-6 6-4 6-3 by Michael Kohlmann of Germany and Finland's Jarkko Nieminen.

And in the mixed doubles, Britain's Ross Hutchins and American partner Liezel Huber suffered a 6-2 6-4 first-round loss to Taipei's Chia-Jung Chuang and Filip Polasek of Slovakia.

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