GenQ

After winning his first two matches of the Australian Open conceding just three games in each, cruise control for world number one Roger Federer came to a grinding halt, barely scraping through to the fourth round on Saturday.

In a match which began with significant inconsistencies by the three-time Australian Open winner, the future for Federer in the tournament looked bleak, facing a set defecit on two separate occasions in his third round match against unseeded Serbian Janko Tipsarevic.

The third round encounter took just under four and a half hours, with tie breakers to decide the first two sets, along with a final set which consisted of eighteen games.

Although Federer had seventeen more unforced errors than his opponent as well as a lower break point percentage conversion rate, a total of 96 winners helped the number one seed to the closest victory so far in the men’s draw this Australian Open.

Roger Federer (1) def Janko Tipsarevic: 6-7(5) 7-6(1) 5-7 6-1 10-8

Federer will now play the winner of the match currently on court at time of publishing between Juan Monaco of Argentina and Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.

For up to the minute news and latest results from the 2008 Australian Open, simply click on the Australian Open tag below.

Tags: Australian Open, Tennis