“I’m happy to be playing Marat; we have fought some battles,” Federer said after ousting error-prone Evgeny Korolev of Russia 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 in just 86 minutes. “We had the epic in 2005.”
That was a semifinal thriller here that Safin won in a 9-7 fifth set en route to the championship. Federer, seeking to tie Pete Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slam titles, has won their last three meetings, including the last two at Wimbledon.
Although Federer’s No. 2 ranking is 24 places higher, Safin’s talent, unpredictability and famed volatility set the stage for an early marquee matchup.
Safin, a former world No. 1, beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-5, 6-2, 6-2. He will turn 29 next week and has said he is unlikely to play after this year, so he’s trying to enjoy what could be his farewell tour.
“I have nothing to lose,” Safin said. “I’m going to go for it. Whatever comes, comes. He knows how to play against me; I know how to play against him.”
The winner would be on track for a possible semifinal meeting against defending champion Novak Djokovic, who traded shots with No. 68 Jeremy Chardy for nearly a set before the Frenchman faltered.
Third-ranked Djokovic cruised the rest of the way for a 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 win.
“I’m playing better and better which is very encouraging,” Djokovic said. “I really stepped it up.”
Seventh-seeded Andy Roddick had his hands full against Xavier Malisse of Belgium, a former top 20 player who had to go through qualifying because his ranking has fallen to No. 195 following a wrist injury.
Roddick, a semifinalist here three times and the 2003 U.S. Open champion, rallied for a hard-fought 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (1), 6-2 victory. Malisse seemed to lose steam after forcing the third-set tiebreaker, where he won only one point.
Roddick next faces 36-year-old Fabrice Santoro of France, who had an even tougher time, going five sets and more than four hours to beat Germany’s Philip Kohlschreiber, the No. 32 seed.
Former Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian, who won in Sydney last week and was seeded 10th, was knocked out by unheralded Yen-hsun Lu of Taiwan 6-4, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in just under four hours. The 25-year-old Lu had never advanced past the second round in 12 previous Slams.
Djokovic next faces Bosnian-born Amer Delic, of Jacksonville, Florida. Delic, who got a spot in the draw as a lucky loser from qualifying when other players withdrew, rallied to beat No. 28 Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 1-6, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 9-7.
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Delic beat American Taylor Dent in the first round. Dent’s father Phil, a former Australian Davis Cup player, complained about unruly behavior from flag-waving Bosnian fans.
Delic anticipated an emotion-charged environment in the next round, saying he’d appeal for calm among his supporters, and expected Djokovic would do the same.
Among the men’s seeded players advancing were No. 11 David Ferrer of Spain, No. 15 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, No. 19 Marin Cilic of Croatia, No. 20 Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic, and No. 21 Tommy Robredo of Spain and American Mardy Fish, seeded 23rd.
In the doubles, second-ranked Bob and Mike Bryan opened with a victory, as did Serena and Venus Williams, the Beijing Olympics doubles gold medalists on the women’s side.
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