Nadal, Federer into 3rd round at Aussie Open

Published January 18, 2012

| Sports Network

Melbourne, Australia – Former champions Rafael Nadal and - one of them without hitting a shot.

Nadal, the No. 2 seed, fought off eight aces and beat error-prone Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday, while the third-seeded Federer moved on after his opponent, Andreas Beck, pulled out of their match with a bad back.

No. 8 seed Mardy Fish of the United States was upset, while seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych and No. 11 seed Juan Martin Del Potro were winners.

Federer, a four-time champion, said Beck greeted him in the locker room and said he was in a lot of pain after his first-round match Monday against Eric Prodon.

"I didn't know anything about it. It came as a surprise," said Federer. "He said he had a lot of painkillers and pain in the last match. I guess it's the smart decision for him to take."

Federer, who last won the year's first grand slam event in 2010, was coming off a win over Alexander Kudryavtsev on Monday.

Nadal, after beating Alex Kuznetsov in the first round, fired 36 winners in his match against Haas, who committed 38 unforced errors. Nadal, who defeated Federer in the 2009 final, converted six of his 10 break point opportunities.

Fish was knocked off in the first big upset of the tournament, falling in straight sets to Alejandro Falla 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 7-6 (8-6). The first and third sets both took over an hour to play. Fish was done in by 58 unforced errors, but didn't make any excuses.

"He's a good player," Fish said.

Berdych beat Olivier Rochus 6-1, 6-0, 7-6 (7-4) and Del Potro topped Blaz Kavcic 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 during Wednesday's 16-match schedule on the men's side.

Federer, meanwhile, said he felt bad for the fans who came out to watch his match and was looking forward to working off the unused energy in practice Thursday.

"I'll just relax this afternoon and have an intense hit tomorrow," Federer said.

URL

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/01/18/nadal-federer-into-3rd-round-at-aussie-open/