Aus Open: Chardy upsets Potro; Federer routs Tomic

Melbourne: Four-time Australian Open champion Roger Federer advanced to the fourth round with a 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-1 win Saturday over Bernard Tomic, the last Aussie in the draw. Federer broke the 20-year-old Tomic’s service in the first game of the match, ending a run of 76 consecutive service games held by Tomic, who won his first ATP tournament last week at the Sydney International. The No. 2 Federer, who has won 17 major titles, also beat Tomic in the fourth round of the 2012 Australian Open.Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka advanced in contrasting styles Saturday to the fourth round at the Australian Open. Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, lost a marathon match 6-3, 6-3, 6-7(3), 3-6, 6-3 to Jeremy Chardy of France, leaving only three major winners in the men’s draw. [caption id=“attachment_594780” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Roger Federer of Switzerland shakes hands with Bernard Tomic of Australia after defeating him in their men’s singles match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne. Reuters[/caption] Andy Murray, who joined the ranks of the Grand Slam winners at last year’s U.S. Open, advanced with a gritty 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 win over Lithuanian qualifier Ricardas Berankis. “I feel so much emotion. Five sets, to be here in a Grand Slam. It’s the most beautiful match of my career,” Chardy said. “It’s a great moment for me, everyone dreams of this.” Second-ranked Roger Federer, who has four Australian titles among his record 17 majors, was playing Bernard Tomic later Saturday after No. 1 Novak Djokovic took another step toward his third consecutive Australian title with a third-round win Friday. After taking del Potro out of the top section of the draw, Chardy will next face No. 21 Andreas Seppi of Italy, who ousted No. 12 Marin Cilic with a 6-7 (2), 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory. A pair of Frenchmen advanced and will meet in the fourth round, with No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beating Slovenia’s Blaz Kavcic 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 to set up a meeting with No. 9 Richard Gasquet, who fended off Croatia’s Ivan Dodig 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-0. Serene Williams, the tournament favorite aiming for a third consecutive major title, recovered from a break down in the second set to win six straight games and finish off a 6-1, 6-3 win over Japan’s Ayumi Morita in 66 minutes. Williams surprised herself with another serve at 128 mph in an afternoon match on Rod Laver Arena, matching a career best that she hit earlier in the tournament. “I tried to hit it really hard. I hit 207 (kph) the other day and I thought it was luck,” she said. “But I did it again and I was like, ‘Whew! I’m going to try to go for 210.’ We’ll see.” In this year’s fourth round, the 31-year-old American will meet No. 14 Maria Kirilenko, who beat No. 20 Yanina Wickmayer 7-6 (4), 6-3. Azarenka next plays Elena Vesnina, who beat 16th-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy 7-6 (4), 6-4. Two-time major winner Svetlana Kuznetsova continued her comeback from injury with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro and advanced to a fourth-round match with former No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki, a 6-4, 6-3 winner of Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko. AP