MELBOURNE, Australia — Roger Federer made the most of his rare opportunities today against the fastest serve in tennis, cashing in with some classic returns in a 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-3 victory over Ivo Karlovic to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open.
The four-time Australian Open champion fended off Karlovic’s set point in the tiebreaker with a return that brought the 6-foot-10 Croatian to the net, then lobbed just over him.
“I knew going in it was going to be tough. I played him 10 times, and we’ve played some breakers. I knew it could come down to a few here and there,” said Federer, who broke Karlovic once in each of the second and third sets. He only faced two break points himself, including the pivotal one in the opening tiebreaker. “I definitely got a bit fortunate and started to play better as the match went on.”
For his part, Karlovic thought it was “one in a 100 I’m gonna lose that point.”
“It was unlucky,” Karlovic said. “I didn’t really expect him to do that. I was there, I just miscalculated how much I was jumping. If I would have won that, everything would be different but that’s life.”
Federer improved to 10-1 against Karlovic and looked increasingly confident at Melbourne Park, where he has collected four of his 16 Grand Slam titles.
He and Rafael Nadal are on the same side of the draw at a major for the first time since 2005 and could meet in the semifinals.
Second-ranked Nadal had a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win earlier today over Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko to advance without dropping a set or show any signs that a freak knee injury is bothering him.
Nadal, who won the 2009 Australian title but has gone out in the quarterfinals due to injuries in the last two years, felt a crack and then sharp pain in his right knee while sitting in a chair at his hotel on the weekend and was concerned that he might not be able to play in his opening match. Medical tests didn’t show any serious damage, and he has had the knee heavily taped in his three matches since.
“The knee is fine. That’s important thing,” the 10-time major winner said. “The match was a really complete match, a really solid one.”
Andy Roddick is already out of the tournament, retiring during his second-round match against Australian Lleyton Hewitt late Thursday.
He needed a medical timeout after injuring his right hamstring in the second set and played 16 more games before finally retiring when Hewitt gained a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 lead.
“It’s a miserable, terrible thing being out there compromised like that,” said Roddick, who is hoping to return within three weeks.
On the women’s side, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki continued her quest for a first major title with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Monica Niculescu of Romania.
