Roger Federer survived a huge scare before he squeezed into the fourth round of the Australian Open by the narrowest of margins.
The defending champion, going for his 13th Grand Slam title, had to dig deep to deny Serbia's world No.49 Janko Tipsarevic 6-7 7-6 5-7 6-1 10-8.
"What a great battle," said world No.1 Federer. "This is where you get grey hair early in life. Pity for him, but what a great victory for me. He was just going for his shots and kept making them." Federer's ability to conjure victory from thin air was in contrast to women's second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova's feeble 6-3 6-4 capitulation to Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska.
"I think I beat myself up out there, so I didn't do much right," said the Russian world No.2. "Playing like this I deserved to lose." Venus Williams has yet to drop a set after moving into the fourth round with a 7-6 6-4 win over Sania Mirza.
Last year's men's runnerup Fernando Gonzalez of Chile suffered a 6-2 6-7 6-3 6-1 upset loss to teenage Croat Marin Cilic.
Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic cruised into the fourth round with a 6-3 6-1 6-3 win over American Sam Querrey.
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JONATHAN PEARCE
ALEC STEWART
THE MOLE