"I feel good, I feel confident," Federer said. "Pretty straightforward match. Physically I'm fine and mentally fresh and that's the way you want to go into the second week."
Australia's top player, former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, advanced when 2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis had to retire with a right shoulder injury with Hewitt leading 6-0, 4-2 in a night match at Rod Laver Arena.
Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad hereThe last time the pair met here, they started just before midnight and concluded the match — won by Hewitt — at 4:34 a.m. Hewitt now plays Federer in the fourth round.
This Hewitt-Baghdatis rematch lasted just 54 minutes.
"I just said to him, 'mate you've got a lot of ticker (heart) to come back like you did today,'" Hewitt said he told Baghdatis when the Cypriot player came to the net to retire.
"He just said he was obviously feeling it on his serve and forehand."
Baghdatis had clutched his shoulder during changeovers and motioned to his coach that he was having difficulty breathing due to the pain.
"I just feel some pain on the shoulder ... I couldn't hit the forehand," Baghdatis said. "I couldn't control the ball. I didn't think that it would be this painful during the match."
In other men's matches, sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko beat Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 and will face Fernando Verdasco in the next round. Verdasco advanced when Stefan Koubek had to retire after losing the opening set 6-1 due to a virus.
No. 3-ranked Novak Djokovic, who beat Federer in the semifinals en route to his 2008 title here, defeated Denis Istomin 6-1, 6-1, 6-2. Earlier, No. 20 Mikhail Youzhny withdrew from his scheduled third-round match against Poland's Lukasz Kubot with a wrist injury. Kubot advanced in a walkover and will play Djokovic.
Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who lost the final to Djokovic in 2008, beat Tommy Haas of Germany 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 in a night match. Tsonga will play Nicolas Almagro of Spain, who beat Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
Federer has plenty to play for — he'd like to win his fourth Australian Open title and walk away from Rod Laver Arena on Jan. 31 without tears in his eyes, as he had last year when he lost to Rafael Nadal in the final.
Federer spoke Saturday about his mental toughness, which he said is needed to "stay at the top of the rankings for so long."
"Victories don't come easy," Federer said. "I had to battle through, and there was tough moments and frustrating moments out there. You have to be mentally strong to be at the top no matter, regardless of the player you are."
Federer then spoke about Nadal, who plays his fourth-round match Sunday against Ivo Karlovic.
"With him, it's from point one to the last point it's always the same intensity," Federer said. "He never drops it."
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