Roger Federer Wary Of Australian Open Letdown At Indian Wells

It was a complete mismatch as four-time BNP Paribas Open champion Roger Federer powered past Stephane Robert and into the third round.

All these years later, they have 32 Grand Slam singles titles between them, 18 for Federer and 14 for Nadal.

Roswell was 37 years and 2 months old when he won the 1972 Australian Open and anyone who watched Federer’s most recent victory in Melbourne wouldn’t be surprised if he adds another impressive record to an already illustrious career.

Nadal, Federer, Nishikori and second seed Novak Djokovic are all on the same side of the draw, which looks even more lopsided after Saturday’s elimination of top seed Andy Murray.

For Nadal, a 6-3, 7-5 victor over fellow Spanish left-hander Fernando Verdasco, encounters with his Swiss rival will never get old.

The 27-year-old American edged a tight first set before Pouille ran away with the second but Young should great poise to force an early double break that was enough to give him the decider but only after six match points had gone begging.

USA 19-year-old Taylor Fritz dispatched France’s Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-2 to line up a meeting with third-seeded Croatian Marin Cilic.

“Big guy, big serve, big forehand”, the 12-time Grand Slam victor said of del Potro. “That’s it. For the rest of the match I think I played very well”.

“It was a long time ago”, said Nadal, who progressed through to the last eight with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Fernando Verdasco.

“Generally if I see myself kind of (in) larger perspective today compared to end of last season, I’m a different player”, he said.

Their meeting on Thursday (AEDT) will be the earliest they have played since their first match in 2004 at Miami, where Nadal won.

“I think I played very well in the first set”, Djokovic said. “For moments I played well. I was trying to mix it up a bit”. It’s going to be different match-up [against Johnson], so I’ve got to adjust again.

But Djokovic said he can not afford to think about a possible quarter-final clash with either of his long-time rivals with 2009 US Open champion del Potro, a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 victor over fellow Argentinian Federico del Bonis, coming up.

Britain’s Daniel Evans cruised past German Dustin Brown 6-1, 6-1 to secure a meeting with fourth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan. I played two disgusting games, terrible. Tunisian Malek Jaziri beat Marcel Granollers 7-5 and 6-3.

In women’s third-round action, 17-year-old American wild-card entry Kayla Day almost pulled off a major upset but eventually lost to reigning French Open champion Garbine Muguruza 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.