Federer fights the shadows

Womens No 1 Jelena Jankovic had already gone down in straight sets to 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli in the days first match on Rod Laver Arena. No 3 Dinara Safina had a narrow escape in the subsequent match,saving match points before fending off another French woman,Alize Cornet,in three.

Dokics fairytale

Safina,who was down 5-3 and 40-15 with Cornet serving for the match,rallied to win 6-2,2-6,7-5 to reach the quarter-finals here for the first time. She will next play 187th-ranked Jelena Dokic,a 2000 Wimbledon semi-finalist with a career-high No 4 ranking who is in her first Grand Slam event in three years. The local favourite beat Alisa Kleybanova 7-5,5-7,8-6.

A massive upset result loomed in the late afternoon when 20th-seeded Berdych was on top for the first two sets,working Federer around with powerful forehands to keep the Swiss star on the defensive. He consistently targetted Federers backhand with his powerful,kicking serve.

But Federer started finding his range and rallied in the third set and the momentum,already shifting toward him as Berdychs errors mounted,shifted his way at the start of the fourth set.

Berdych recovered from double breakpoint to deuce,and Federer got another breakpoint on a close line call. Berdych wanted to challenge,but no replay was available due to a technical glitch,so the call stood. Berdych argued with the chair umpire to no avail,then netted a forehand to fall behind for the only break of the set.

Federer led 4-0 in the fifth but,serving at 5-2,nervously squandered double match point then double-faulted to give Berdych a break chance. He forced deuce,fired back-to-back aces the last was No 20 for the match then leapt in the air with a big Yes!

Federer will face No 8 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina,a 5-7,6-4,6-4,6-2 winner over No 19 Marin Cilic of Croatia.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic took a 5-0 lead,then had to work hard for a 6-1,7-6 (1),6-7 (5),6-2 victory over 2006 runner-up Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus He plays seventh-seeded Andy Roddick,who ousted No. 21 Tommy Robredo 7-5,6-1,6-3.

Aggressive show

Bartoli was the aggressor in a 6-1,6-4 win over Jankovic that wasnt entirely unexpected. Yeah,its obviously disappointing. Nobody likes to lose, Jankovic said.

The 23-year-old Serb remains without a Grand Slam singles title and could also be without the No 1 ranking in another week. If Safina wins,shell top the rankings after the seasons first major.

It doesnt matter because its just the beginning of the year,and there is many more tournaments to play, Jankovic said. Maybe it will change,the No 1 ranking,but its not important what you do now,its the whole year ahead of us.

Bartoli plays No 7 Vera Zvonareva,who beat No 10 Nadia Petrova 7-5,6-4. I knew I could beat Jelena on a good day,it was just a matter of executing it,you know,play the right shot at the right time, Bartoli said.