World number one Roger Federer cruised into the fourth round at the Australian Open with an impressive three-set win over Belorussian giant Max Mirnyi.
The 2004 Australian Open champion proved too good for Mirnyi, continuously testing the 30th seed's patience before breaking him once each in the first two sets and twice in the third on the way to a 6-3 6-4 6-3 win.
Yet to lose a set at this year's Open, the Swiss ace will now prepare for a fourth round clash against German Tommy Haas, whom he lost to at last week's Kooyong Classic.
Having had to wait until after 10pm local time to take to the court after local Samantha Stosur needed three sets to also reach the fourth round, Federer was delighted with the manner of his eighth career win over Mirnyi in their 10th meeting.
The top seed said: "I'm very pleased with the way I played, it was a very good performance. I knew what to expect - I've played him on many occasions and he played exactly how I expected."
Frenchmen Sebastien Grosjean and Paul-Henri Mathieu will meet in the fourth round at the Australian open after both overcame South American opponents on day six at Melbourne Park.
Grosjean, seeded 25th, knocked out Spanish sixth seed Guillermo Coria in four sets 6-2 6-2 3-6 6-4 as the Argentinian hit 23 double-faults in the match.
Meanwhile, Mathieu equalled his best performance at a Grand Slam with a straight-sets win over Peruvian Luis Horna.
Mathieu went down an early break in each of the first two sets but recovered to win both in tie-breaks before closing out the match 7-6 (7/3) 7-6 (9/7) 6-1.
Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty won his third five-setter of the tournament, beating Russian 23rd seed Igor Andreev 1-6 6-4 6-3 2-6 6-4.
After taking a 2-1 lead after three sets, the 12th seed was in deep trouble at 4-1 down in the fifth before bouncing back to win in three-and-a-half hours.
Argentinian Juan Ignacio Chela made light work of Kristof Vliegen with a 6-1 6-4 6-4 win.
The big-hitting Belgian went for his shots, hitting twice as many winners as Chela but also 44 unforced errors.
Tommy Haas' brilliant serving helped him recover from a set down to beat home hope Peter Luczak 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4.
Haas gave just one break-point opportunity for the four sets and pounded 55 winners to set up a potential fourth-round clash with world number one Roger Federer, whom he beat in last week's Kooyong Classic.
Federer clashes with Max Mirnyi of Belarus in the feature match of the night session.
Mens Singles 3rd round results for Saturday 21 January: 1 Roger Federer (Swi) bt 30 M Mirnyi (Blr) 6-3 6-4 6-3 Tommy Haas (Ger) bt Peter Luczak (Aus) 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4 12 D Hrbaty (Sk) bt 23 I Andreev (Rus) 1-6 6-4 6-3 2-6 6-4 5 NDavydenko (Rus) bt Nathan Healey (Aus) 6-2 5-7 6-4 7-5 Juan Ignacio Chela (Arg) bt Kristof Vilegen (Bel) 6-1 6-4 6-4 21 N Kiefer (Ger) bt 15 Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spa) 6-3 6-2 5-7 6-2 Paul-Henri Mathieu (Fra) bt L Horna (Per) 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (9-7) 6-1, 25 Sebastien Grosjean (Fra) bt 6 G Coria (Arg) 6-2 6-2 3-6 6-4.
