Top seed Roger Federer [Images] survived a five-set scare from unseeded German Tommy Haas on Monday to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
At two sets up the world number one's game inexplicably fell apart before he regained his composure to win 6-4, 6-0, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2.
Federer looked to be cruising to his fourth consecutive straight-sets win when he ripped through the first two sets in an hour before Haas staged a remarkable fightback to force the match into a fifth set.
Federer got the vital break in the sixth game when his German opponent missed an easy volley and broke again in the eighth game to advance to the quarter-finals.
He will play Russian fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko, who beat Slovakian ironman Dominik Hrbaty 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.
© Copyright 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
|
Advertisement
Email this Article 
Print this Article