The top men's seeds continued to make trouble-free progress at the Australian Open as Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Nikolay Davydenko all secured comfortable straight-set wins.
World No 1 Federer was at his efficient best against the 31st seed Albert Montanes as he needed just three breaks of serve, while not allowing a single break point on his own, to win 6-3 6-4 6-4.
"I thought it was dominated from my side with my serve, which allowed me then to take chances on the return. (It was a) pretty straightforward match, really. I don't remember him having any breakpoints," said Federer.
Third seed Djokovic could hardly have had an easier win in his career as an error-strewn performance from Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin, the world No 103, allowed the Serbian to take a 6-1 6-1 6-2 in one hour and 37 minutes.
Djokovic is yet to face a seed in the tournament and will next play world No 86 Lukasz Kubot, who was given a walkover win against the 20th seed Mikhail Youzhny. The Russian was forced to pull out on the eve of the match with a wrist injury.
Youzhny's countryman Davydenko extended his winning run on the tour to 12 matches with an impressive 6-0 6-3 6-4 victory over 30th seed Juan Monaco.
Davydenko will next play last year's semi-finalist and ninth seed Fernando Verdasco, who was also a beneficiary of a retirement against qualifier Stefan Koubek. The 33-year-old Austrian was trailing 6-1 when he withdrew due to illness.
Spain's Nicolas Almagro reached the Australian Open fourth round for the first time with a 6-4 6-3 6-4 win against the Colombian Alejandro Falla.
Almagro, the 26th seed, will play the winner of Saturday night's match between Tommy Haas and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
The other match on Saturday evening on Rod Laver Arena is between Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis in a replay of their marathon five-set match at Melbourne Park two years ago which finished at 4.30am ? the latest-ever finish at a grand slam.
* PA Sport
The Sky Is Pink
Director: Shonali Bose
Cast: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim, Rohit Saraf
Three stars
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Ukraine 2 (Yaremchuk 06', Yarmolenko 27')
Portugal 1 (Ronaldo 72' pen)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
Drivers’ championship standings after Singapore:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 263
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - 235
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 212
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - 162
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari - 138
6. Sergio Perez, Force India - 68
UJDA CHAMAN
Produced: Panorama Studios International
Directed: Abhishek Pathak
Cast: Sunny Singh, Maanvi Gagroo, Grusha Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla
Rating: 3.5 /5 stars
The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry
Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm
Torque: 356Nm @ 4,700rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
