Federer leads big-name successes in Melbourne
Roger Federer eased into the third round after a second straight-sets win
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Thursday, 21, Jan 2010 11:12
By Alistair Potter.
World number one Roger Federer enjoyed the easiest of victories over Romania's Victor Hanescu, 6-2 6-3 6-2, to book his place in the third round of the Australian Open.
Federer was a class apart from his opponent, sealing victory in less than two hours as he cruised through to face Spain's Albert Montanes, seeded 31st.
Joining the top seed in round three is world number three Novak Djokovic, despite the Serbian star playing short of his best.
Djokovic, who won the Australian Open in 2008, went a set down against Swiss outsider Marco Chiudinelli after a sluggish start.
But he roared back to take the next three sets for the loss of only five games to progress.
Ninth seed Fernando Verdasco is also safely into the third round after a straightforward 6-1 6-2 6-2 win over Ukraine's Ivan Sergeyev, while sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko also enjoyed an easy win over a Ukrainian opponent - beating Illya Marchenko 6-3 6-3 6-0.
The tie of the third round looks set to involve 22nd seed and local hero Lleyton Hewitt, who will face fiery Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.
The Australian star beat American Donald Young 7-6 6-4 6-1 while Baghdatis produced a thrilling five-set victory over 17th seed David Ferrer, coming back from two sets down to win 4-6 3-6 7-6 6-3 6-1.