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Federer Sets Up Safin Clash

Serbs dominate

AFP, Melbourne
A dominant Roger Federer set up an Australian Open third-round clash with Marat Safin Wednesday as top seed Jelena Jankovic and defending champion Novak Djokovic showed glimpses of their best form.
The tennis big guns were joined in the next round by Serb glamour girl Ana Ivanovic and Russian third seed Dinara Safina, but 10th seed David Nalbandian was a high-profile casualty, crashing to unheralded Taiwanese Lu-Yen-Hsun.
Swiss great Federer, who is seeking a recordequalling 14th Grand Slam title here, let loose with some instinctive shot-making as he beat Russian qualifier Evgeny Korolev6-2,6-3,6-1.
"I'm happy the way it went He was also a good opponent to play against and there were a lot of good shots," Federer said, before looking ahead to the Safin clash.
"We go way back Him, of course, being a former number one, same for me, former Grand Slam champion, it's an intriguing
match-up."
The Swiss has beaten Safin nine times but lost out in a classic semifinal here in 2005, when the Russian claimed the title.
Safin booked his date with destiny by downing Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7^5, 6-2,6-2.
"I'm looking forward to it,” he said of the Federer match.
"We know each other pretty well. He knows how to play against me; I know how to play against him."
The top-seeded Jankovic battled past Belgian Kirsten Flipkens 6-4, 7-5 as she upped the ante in her quest for a maiden Grand Slam.
"It's good to have someone push you so you know what you have to work on when you step back on the practice court," said Jankovic, who will play Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama on Friday.
Djokovic dismissed Jeremy Chardy of France 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 in impressive style and appears to be hitting form after a slow start to the season and occasional lapses in his opening match here against Italian qualifier Andrea Stoppini.
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"I feel very nice and comfortable on this court," he said. "The first round was tricky, I didn't play such great tennis, but today was another story.
"Hopefully it can get better in the next match."
Third seed Safina recovered from a slow start to dominate fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-0 while fifth seed Ivanovic overcame early nerves to crush AlbertaBriantiofItaly6-3,6-2.
Safina has lost only once this year, to compatriot Elena Dementieva in the final of the Sydney International, and is one of the favourites after a breakthrough 2008.
"She played a very good
match. She gave me a hard time," Safina admitted. "But when I lost the first set I raised my level and that's why I won quite easily after that.
"We don't know each other, I've never played her and I've never seen her play. That's maybe why I had to find out in the first set how to play her."
Next up for Safina is Estonian 25 th seed Kaia Kanepi.
Ivanovic made the final here last year where she lost to Maria Sharapova, but her late-season form in 2008 left plenty to be desired.
The 21-year-old though seems to be getting into her groove in Melbourne, where she feels at home with family and friends living here. It
helped her produce a convincing display against Brianti.
"I think I improved a lot since my first match and I'm very pleased with that," said the former world number one.
"But there are still some areas that I have to work on and improve on."
Andy Roddick continued his tilt at the title with a four-set victory over Belgium's Xavier Malisse while Argentinean hotshot Juan Del Potro also won.
Australian wildcard Jelena Dokic, a former world number four, extended her emotional Grand Slam comeback by beating Russian 17th seed Anna Chakvetadze 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3.