体坛英语新闻：Safin, Federer to clash, Nalbandian crashes out of Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Two former Australian Open champions and World No. 1 players will face off in the third round after Swiss Roger Federer eased past Evgeny Korolev from Russia 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 and Russian Marat Safin defeated Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 here on Wednesday.

Roger Federer of Switzerland returuns a shot during the second round match of men's singles against Evgeny Korolev of Russia at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Jan. 21, 2009. Federer won 3-0 (6-2, 6-3, 6-1).

The second-seeded Federer took advantage of his 20-year-old opponent's 44 unforced errors to race to the win in just 87 minutes.

    The three-time Australian Open champion is chasing his 14th Grand Slam title, which would tie him with Pete Sampras's record.

    Federer holds a 9-2 lead in the head-to-head series against Safin, but the 28-year-old Russian won their sole previous meeting at the Australian Open, prevailing in a 9-7 fifth set in the 2005 semifinals. 

Russian Marat Safin returns a shot to Spain's Ivan Navarro during the first round of the men's singles at the 2009 Australian Open held in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 19, 2009. Safin won 3-0 and advanced to the next round.

Safin, a winner of 15 titles on the ATP World Tour tennis circuit, went on to defeat Lleyton Hewitt in the 2005 championship match but has gone titleless since.

    Safin said: "I have nothing to worry about. I'm going to play my match. We know each other pretty well. He knows how to play against me and I know how to play against him."

    "Unfortunately I didn't win a lot of matches against him, but I' m looking forward. It's another chance. I have nothing to lose. I'm going to go for it," he added.

    Chinese Taipei's Lu Yen-Hsun advanced to the third round of a Grand Slam championship for the first time, when the 25-year-old defeated 10th-seeded Argentine David Nalbandian 6-4, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4,6-2 in three hours and 55 minutes.

    Lu hit nine aces and 51 winners past last week's Sydney champion who squandered six break point opportunities in the final game.

    Lu, currently a career-high No. 61 in the world rankings, will next meet No. 21 seed Tommy Robredo of Spain in the third round.

    "For sure now I am really happy. I pick up the phone all the time and my friends give congratulations to me," said Lu.

    "It's a big step to be in the third round in a Grand Slam, because before I always reach only the second round. It is really something in my career," he added.

    Defending champion Novak Djokovic, American Andy Roddick, Argentine hotshot Juan Martin Del Potro all came through the second round.

    In women's play, some were tested while some cruised, but all of the favorites moved past their second round opponents in the second round.

    Fifth seed and 2007 runner-up Ana Ivanovic of Serbia eased past Alberta Brianti 6-3, 6-2, hitting 26 winners, over twice as many as the Italian qualifier and breaking serve five times en route to the comprehensive win.

    Ivanovic fell to Maria Sharapova in last year's final here.

    "Last year's final was very emotional for me. I had trouble sleeping a couple nights after that," the 21-year-old said.

    "It was still a great experience. I think I can still improve and build on my game, and hopefully take a step further this year. But I don't want to be too focused on the end. I'll just enjoy every match."

    Elsewhere, Dinara Safina, the No. 3 seed, made it to the third round after a 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-0 win over compatriot Ekaterina Makarova.

    Safina committed 20 errors in the first set but regrouped in the second and third sets, making a total of 24 errors the rest of the way en route to the come-from-behind victory.

    World number one Jelena Jankovic and Russian Vera Zvonareva followed them into the last 32, although they had far different experiences.

    Zvonareva, the No. 7 seed, took just 46 minutes to rout Edina Gallovits of Romania 6-0, 6-0 while top seed Jankovic was tested by the crafty Belgian Kirsten Flipkens, but was able to prevail 6-4, 7- 5.