Roger Federer will look to continue his run through the Australian Open when he takes on relative unknown Marton Fucsovics in the fourth round. Join The Roar for live scores from around 3pm (AEDT).
The world No.2 has been at his dominant best through the first three rounds of the Open and is yet to drop a set after putting in similarly strong performances at the Hopman Cup to begin 2017.
Federer, who continues to play excellent tennis at 36 years of age has lived up to all the expectations so far, playing an entertaining brand of tennis as he went past Alijaz Bedene, Jan-Lennard Struff and more impressively, Richard Gasquet.
His first two wins were expected, but beating the seeded Frenchman last time out was never going to be quite as easy as his first two wins.
Still, Federer dominated from start to finish, picking up a break of serve in each set to claim a 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 victory.
This match almost feels like a step down though, even if the form of the Hungarian has been good and the only question surrounding Federer is whether he will still be as dominant in the later rounds when he begins to take on higher ranked player.
Fucsovics carried good form into the Open after a second-round exit in Pune and final appearance at the Canberra Challenger, where he lost to Andreas Seppi. Still, there is no question he has exceeded his wildest hopes thus far.
His first-round match against Radu Albot was a four-set victory, but knocking out big-serving American Sam Querrey was a shock. He came out of the blocks fast, winning the first two sets before dropping one and then breaking the serve of the American twice to take the final set 6-2.
It’s a win like that which says he could challenge anyone and he backed that up with a straight-sets effort over Nicolas Kicker, but still, taking it to Federer is a level well above anything he has dished up so far.
The pair have never previously played and the winner will take on either Tomas Berdych or Fabio Fognini in the quarter-finals.
Prediction
Federer should win this in a canter, but given the way Fucsovics was able to defend against Querrey and handle power, you can never be totally sure.
Federer in straight sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live scores of this fourth-round clash from around 3pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Hi Scott, privileged to be courtside for this one. The great man in full swing.