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After five-setter, match begins at 11:47 p.m., wraps up at 4:33 a.m.
By John Pye
Associated Press
Published on Sunday, Jan 20, 2008
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: The drama started with a rare five-setter for Roger Federer. Then Lleyton Hewitt carried on almost to dawn.
Day 6 at the Australian Open was a long, long journey. About one-third of the 15,000 people with tickets for the Saturday night session didn't leave until Hewitt smacked a forehand past Marcos Baghdatis at 4:33 a.m. today.
Federer needed 4 hours, 27 minutes to beat 49th-ranked Janko Tipsarevic 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1), 5-7, 6-1, 10-8 in an extended afternoon match that pushed back the night session at least two hours.
Federer had won 30 straight sets at Melbourne Park since dropping the first in the 2006 final against Baghdatis. The Swiss star had lost only six games in his first two matches this year.
Federer said his five-setter would give him a good idea of where he stands as he bids to make an 11th consecutive Grand Slam final. A title would move him within one of Pete Sampras' record 14 majors.
''It's not such a relief — it's more happiness,'' Federer told the crowd at Rod Laver Arena, where he has won the past two Australian titles and three overall. ''I'm happy I could deliver a five-set thriller. It was good to be part of something like this.''
David Nalbandian and Juan Carlos Ferrero stepped back on the same court to begin today's schedule just more than six hours after Hewitt and Baghdatis walked off.
Former No. 1 Ferrero beat 10th-seeded Nalbandian 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 in a third-round match postponed by rain Saturday. In another third-rounder, No. 5 David Ferrer beat American Vincent Spadea 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. Ferrero will play Ferrer in the fourth round.
Wedged between the epic five-setters Saturday, Venus Williams finished off Sania Mirza in straight sets after declining an invitation to either postpone the match or move to Vodafone Arena, the other stadium with a roof at Melbourne Park.
So when Hewitt tossed the ball up for his first serve, it was 11:47 p.m. — the latest start for a singles match in the Australian Open. He broke Baghdatis on his fifth match point 4:45 later to win 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-3.
''Obviously, an incredible day of tennis,'' Hewitt said, sounding hoarse and tired. ''I mean, for Roger Federer to go five sets — how often does that happen?''
Hewitt will play No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who ousted Sam Querrey 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 to leave James Blake as the best U.S. hope at the Open.
Blake rallied from two sets down and then a double-break in the fourth to beat Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean 4-6, 2-6, 6-0, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
''That's got to be my biggest comeback,'' Blake said, referring to his second victory after nine consecutive losses in five-set matches. ''Just seemed like every time there was a mountain to climb . . . couldn't have been a better feeling than to accomplish what I did.''
Next up is 6-foot-5 Marin Cilic, a 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1 winner over last year's losing finalist, Fernando Gonzalez.
In fourth-round matches today, No. 2 Nadal faced Paul-Henri Mathieu, Frenchmen Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga went head to head, and Philipp Kohlschreiber, who upset Andy Roddick in the third round, played Finland's Jarkko Nieminen. No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko and No. 14 Mikhail Youzhny met in a match between Russians.
Two of Russia's top women lost Saturday. No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova fell 6-3, 6-4 to 18-year-old Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze was beaten 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-2 by No. 27 Maria Kirilenko.
No. 4 Ana Ivanovic advanced 6-3, 6-4 over No. 28 Katarina Srebotnik and No. 8 Venus Williams recovered an early break to beat Mirza of India 7-6 (0), 6-4.
Her sister, defending Australian Open champion Serena Williams, took on Nicole Vaidisova today in a rematch of last year's semifinals.
No. 1 Justin Henin met Hsieh Su-wei — the first Taiwanese to make the fourth round of a major — and 2007 runner-up Maria Sharapova plays No. 11 Elena Dementieva in an all-Russian match.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: The drama started with a rare five-setter for Roger Federer. Then Lleyton Hewitt carried on almost to dawn.
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