MELBOURNE: A welcome wind blew away the stifling heat at Melbourne Park on Friday but there was no diverting Novak Djokovic or Maria Sharapova from their paths to the last 16 of the Australian Open on day five.
Djokovic marched into the fourth round without giving up a set after successfully negotiating a tricky tie against Radek Stepanek with a 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 win.
Sharapova was even more impressive and, although denied a third successive 6-0, 6-0 win of the week, looked every inch the title contender in her 6-1, 6-3 demolition of seven-time grand slam champion Venus Williams.
Fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska also continued her red-hot start to the year, notching up win number 12 with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Britain’s Heather Watson in their third round tie.
Djokovic had to work for every point against Stepanek, who charged the net 67 times.
It was little more than a good workout for the world number one, however.
Sharapova’s flurry of fist pumps after she wound up her match against Williams showed how much the victory meant to the second seed, who has been in ruthless form this week despite missing her one warm-up tournament with a collar-bone injury.
David Ferrer eased further into it with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 win over another entertainer, 2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis.
The Spanish baseliner showed more than a few decent touches of his own – most notably a sumptuous backhand lob – as he set up a fourth-round contest against Japan’s Kei Nishikori.
Big-serving Tomas Berdych was a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 winner over Jurgen Melzer and will face Kevin Anderson in the next round with a likely quarterfinal meeting with Djokovic on the line.
Djokovic must first get past Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, who ended the 2013 challenge of the American men at Melbourne Park when he beat Sam Querrey 7-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Eighth seed Janko Tipsarevic outlasted Frenchman Julien Benneteau 3-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a second successive five-set match.
The Serbian will next face Spanish 10th seed Nicolas Almagro, who ended Jerzy Janowicz’s Australian Open with a 7-6, 7-6, 6-1 win.
Ana Ivanovic won the battle against Jelena Jankovic 7-5, 6-3 and was later joined in the fourth round by Li Na, who beat Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-1.
Sania Mirza and Bob Bryan began their partnership with a convincing straight-set victory over Australian pair of Samantha Stosur and Luke Saville in the mixed doubles first round.
The third seeded Indo-American pair coasted to a 6-2, 6-2 win over the local team. (Reuters)