Federer, Djokovic into last eight

MELBOURNE Australia -- It was business as usual for Roger Federer as he put his third round scare at the Australian Open behind him to ease past 13th seed Tomas Berdych in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals.

Federer is on course for a semifinal showdown with Novak Djokovic after the young Serbian third seed ended the hopes of Australia's Lleyton Hewitt in the final last 16 match on Monday night.

Djokovic, who has yet to drop a set in the tournament, saw off Hewitt 7-5 6-3 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena.

Hewitt, who had every right to be exhausted after his third round win over Marcos Baghdatis ended at 4.30 am on Sunday morning, never seriously troubled Djokovic who now plays David Ferrer of Spain. Ferrer beat compatriot Juan-Carlos Ferrero 7-5 3-6 6-4 6-1.

"The first set was luck and afterwards I relaxed and tried to be aggressive and take control of the match which I did," said Djokovic after his victory.

"He made a couple of unforced errors and he was very tired and exhausted from the Baghdatis match a few nights ago, so I used my opportunity."

World number one Federer teetered on the edge of defeat in his five-set epic against Janko Tipsarevic on Saturday but was largely untroubled in a 6-4 7-6 6-3 victory over Czech Berdych.

The Swiss maestro, aiming for his fourth Australian Open title in succession, did have a few anxious moments in the second set before wrapping up the win just under two hours.

It was apparent from early on that Berdych was not going to give Federer many opportunities to establish an advantage. But the top seed was just as resilient, conceding just four points on his own serve in the first set before breaking Berdych late on to win it 6-4.

The Czech secured the first break of the second set but a determined Federer broke back quickly to level and force a tiebreak.

Berdych twice had set points but twice made unforced errors and followed with another on Federer' s first set point to lose 9-7 and go two sets down.

Federer upped his game in the third and was completely dominant on serve and Berdych finally cracked in the sixth game and was broken to love with the rest of the match a formality.

Awaiting Federer in the quarterfinals is American James Blake, the 12th seed easing past Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-3 6-4 6-4. E-mail to a friend