Nadal advances to fourth round of Australian Open
Published:Friday | January 22, 2010 | 12:56 PM
Defending champion, Rafael Nadal advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open today with a 6-4, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 win over German Philipp Kohlschreiber.
The second seed\'s serve was put under pressure and he needed some inventive shots to win in three-and-a-half hours.
Nadal will next play Croatian Ivo Karlovic, who beat compatriot Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6.
Fourth seed Juan Martin del Potro survived some anxious moments before beating the unseeded Florian Mayer.
The 21-year-old US Open champion served 11 aces, but was guilty of 46 unforced errors in a 6-3, 0-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory.
Other men’s winners were John Isner, Andy Roddick and Fernando Gonzalez.
In the women’s draw, Kim Clijsters suffered a third-round defeat, while Justine Henin narrowly avoided the same fate.
Clijsters, one of the favourites to win the title, was thrashed by 19th seed Nadia Petrova of Russia 6-0, 6-1 in only 52 minutes.
Fellow Belgian Henin fought back from a set down to see off Russian Alisa Kleybanova 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 and eighth seed, Jelena Jankovic lost 6-2, 6-3 to 31st seed, Alona Bondarenko.
Other women’s winners were Zheng Jie, Maria Kirilenko and Svetlana Kuznetsova.