Tennis News : Nadal & Federer into third round

Australian Open

• Venue: Melbourne Park


• Date: 16-29 January


• Time: 0000 GMT


• Coverage: Watch live on Eurosport; singles finals and one men's semi-final on BBC Two/Red Button/HD channel/website; listen on BBC Radio 5 live; text commentaries and reports on the BBC Sport website

Nadal won the Australian Open in 2009

Second seed Rafael Nadal dispelled fears about his physical condition with a 6-4 6-3 6-4 win against Tommy Haas in round two of the Australian Open.

Nadal injured his right knee before the tournament but after his win he said: "I'm very happy about how it improves, I'm able to play without a problem."

Roger Federer also advanced with a walkover after his opponent Andreas Beck withdrew with a back problem.

But eighth seed Mardy Fish was upset in straight sets by Alejandro Falla.

The US number one went down 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 7-6 (8-6) as Falla set up a meeting with Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Fish fell at the same stage in 2010 and 2011, while Colombia's Falla is into round three for the second year running.

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I would have loved to have played. I'm sorry to the fans, I was ready to go - I had a warm-up hit and was focused

Roger Federer

There he will face Kohlschreiber, a fellow unseeded player, who advanced when Pere Riba retired while trailing 6-0 4-0.

Next up for Nadal, meanwhile, is Lukas Lacko, of Slovakia, who defeated America's Donald Young 6-3 6-1 3-6 6-3.

"The last couple of years I've had physical problems here," stated Nadal, the champion in 2009 and a quarter-finalist in 2010 and 2011.

"But it's always very exciting to be back here, thanks for supporting me. It's an honour to play on this court [Rod Laver Arena]."

Federer's progress was confirmed when Beck pulled out with a lower back complaint before their encounter on Hisense Arena.

It would have been the first time in 52 matches - a sequence stretching back to 2004 - that Federer had not played on Rod Laver Arena.

The 16-time Grand Slam champion will face Ivo Karlovic, who beat Carlos Berlocq of Argentina 7-6 3-6 6-3 6-4, on Friday for a place in the fourth round.

"I would have loved to have played," said Federer. "I'm sorry to the fans, I was ready to go - I had a warm-up hit and was focused.

"I will rest up, hit intensely [on Wednesday] and get ready for my match."

American 16th seed John Isner won a four-hour 41-minute marathon match, including a 99-minute last set, over former Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian.

Isner, who won the longest match in history at Wimbledon in 2010, hit 43 aces in his 4-6 6-3 2-6 7-6 (5) 10-8 victory.

Argentinian Nalbandian had several run-ins with chair umpire Kader Nouni and was enraged when supervisor Andreas Egli refused to overrule Nouni's decision to decline a review of a line call late in the fifth.

Under tournament rules, the challenge must be made in a "timely manner'', the judgement on time being at the chair umpire's discretion.

Nalbandian smashed his racket to the ground in disgust when he netted a backhand on match point.

"It's ridiculous playing this kind of tournament with this kind of umpires,'' Nalbandian said. "I didn't understand in that situation, eight-all, break point.''

Alexandr Dolgopolov, the 13th seed from Ukraine, defeated Tobias Kamke of Germany 4-6 6-1 6-1 3-6 8-6.

Dolgopolov next plays Australian teenager Bernard Tomic, who beat American Sam Querrey 3-6 6-3 7-6 (3) 6-3 in the opening night match on Rod Laver Arena.

Seventh seed Tomas Berdych saved the only break point he faced en route to a 6-1 6-1 7-6 (7-4) victory over Olivier Rochus, while Stanislas Wawrinka overcame a third-set wobble to defeat Marcos Baghdatis 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 5-7 6-1 in an entertaining match on Margaret Court Arena.

It takes him to a third-round meeting with 30th seed Kevin Anderson, the South African coming beating Sergiy Stakhovsky 3-6 6-1 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.

Joining them in the third round is 11th seed Juan Martin del Potro - who outclassed Blaz Kavcic 6-4 7-5 6-3 - and his next opponent is Yen-Hsun Lu, a 7-5 6-2 6-2 winner against Florent Serra.

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