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MELBOURNE - Roger Federer's wizardry entranced Australian Open crowds yesterday and the passion of Marat Safin illuminated the night session but only the Swiss stayed in the hunt for the title.
Federer's sleight of hand totally bamboozled court magician Fabrice Santoro and the top seed produced a centre
court masterclass to reach round three 6-1 6-2 6-0.
Where Federer was sublime, Safin was savage.
The Russian, champion here in 2005, bludgeoned his way back from two sets down before succumbing 6-4 6-4 2-6 3-6 6-2 to 15th-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.
"Yeah well, it's a pity," Safin shrugged. "I consider I should have won in three, four sets.
"The first two sets should not have happened. That's the first and last time I make that mistake," he added mysteriously.
With Federer and Safin acting as the main course, the side dishes were no less appetising.
Ana Ivanovic wowed the centre court crowd, Venus Williams cruised, Novak Djokovic was on automatic and Lleyton Hewitt thrilled the home crowd.
But the day session belonged to Federer who mesmerised his opponent with artistry and power.
Santoro has long been a wizard of the court. Armed with an arsenal of unconventional shots, wristy groundstrokes and a heavy reliance on slice, his game has confounded the world's best over the years.
But he had no answer to a dominant Federer whose own heavy spin left the Frenchman flapping at the air.
Santoro, 35, was playing in a record 62nd grand slam singles tournament. Rarely could he have lost so comprehensively as in this 6-1 6-2 6-0 thrashing.
"Everything looks easy to him," the Frenchman smiled. "There is no space to play. There is no space to hit aces because he's returning everything.
"I'd love to play him once again. Because it's so beautiful, what he's doing."
Federer, bidding for a third successive Australian Open title, downplayed his dominance.
"I played really in a smart way," the Swiss said. "The scoreline was very one-sided, so that was good for me anyway."
Safin came close but blew too hot-and-cold to get past as accomplished a player as Baghdatis.
The 2006 runner-up, Baghdatis rattled off the opening two sets.
The Russian ripped through sets three and four, though, before Baghdatis broke in the second game of the final set and again in the eighth to set up a third-round clash with Hewitt.
"He's Australian, isn't he?" the Cypriot smiled to the crowd when questioned about the match-up.
Third seed Djokovic crushed Italian Simone Bolelli 6-1 6-2 6-2, Hewitt kept the home fans happy with a 7-6 6-3 5-7 6-1 win over Uzbek Denis Istomin and fifth seed David Ferrer was 6-3 6-4 up on Juan Martin Del Potro when the Argentine retired.
Ivanovic underlined that she is much more than the pin-up of the women's tour by smashing world number 40 Tathiana Garbin 6-0 6-3.
"It's definitely been great out here," the 20-year-old smiled. "Even if I was a little nervous, the crowd helped me get over it tonight."
Earlier in the day, Wimbledon champion Williams hit back from behind in both sets before pricking Camille Pin's hopes 7-5 6-4 and second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was far from convincing in her 7-6 6-2 victory over Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova.
- REUTERS