Andy Roddick managed an impressive victory over Marat Safin in third round action, winning 7-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6. Roddick attributes his inspiration for the win partly to the arrival of his beloved coach, Jimmy Connors. Connors had stayed behind in the United States after his mother’s death but arrived in Melbourne just in time for Roddick’s third round match. “For him to go through what he has gone through, hop on a flight, arrive this morning and stay up for me was great,” Roddick said in a news conference. “I hadn’t seen him for five to six weeks and I’m pretty excited to have him here.” Roddick faces another tough opponent in the fourth round in Croatian Mario Ancic.
World number one Roger Federer of Switzerland had an easy time against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia (6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (5)). He meets Serbian Novak Djokovic in the fourth round.
Mardy Fish also moved to the next round when veteran Wayne Arthurs’ leg gave out and he had to retire while behind 3-0 in the first. Other winners in men’s singles were Tommy Robredo, David Ferrer, and Gasquet.
Men’s third round matches remaining include Rafael Nadal vs. Stanislas Wawrinka, James Blake vs. Robby Ginepri, Nikolay Davydenko vs. Fabrice Santoro, and Mardy Fish vs. Wayne Arthurs.
[...] First Round: Bjorn Phau (Germany) 7-5, 6-0, 6-4 Second Round: Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 Third Round: Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 Fourth Round: Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 Quarterfinals: Tommy Robredo (Spain) 6-3, 7-6, 7-5 Semifinals: Andy Roddick (USA) 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 [...]