Roddick, Serena into fourth round; champions Federer and Mauresmo advance

Friday, January 19th 2007, 6:32 am

By: News On 6

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) _ In a classic match worthy of a final, fifth-seeded Andy Roddick outlasted Marat Safin 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) Friday to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open.

Safin, the 2005 champion and former world No. 1, was seeded only 26th as he comes back from a knee injury that kept him from defending his title last year. That meant one of the highly ranked players would have to face him early in the two-week tournament.

No. 6 Roddick drew the unenviable task and showed his confidence is high again after a malaise that dropped him out of the top 10 last year before he convinced Jimmy Connors to coach him. He now faces No. 9 Mario Ancic.

``I knew I was going to have to play well and I definitely lifted my level in the last couple of sets,'' Roddick said. ``Anything less than that and I would probably would be going home.''

Serena Williams, also plagued by a bad knee last year and unseeded after winning here in 2005, rallied after No. 5 Nadia Petrova served for the match at 6-1, 5-3, showing that she still has superior skills and a strong will to win.

Top-ranked Roger Federer had an easier time against 25th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny, beating last year's U.S. Open semifinalist 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (5).

Second-seeded Amelie Mauresmo, the defending women's champion, beat Eva Birnerova and next plays Lucie Safarova, who won the first set before Anastasiya Yakimova retired with a back injury. No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova beat fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko and No. 7 Elena Dementieva advanced over Maria Elena Camerin of Italy. Also advancing were No. 10 Nicole Vaidisova and No. 16 Shahar Peer.

For more than three hours, Roddick and Safin exchanged 210 kph-plus (130 mph-plus) serves, stinging groundstrokes, crisp volleys and deft drops, leaving the packed stadium enthralled and applauding nearly every point.

Both players were dripping sweat on a still, muggy night that had people in the crowd fanning themselves. The roof had to be closed due to a light rain, and Safin complained bitterly that the court hadn't been dried up enough when play resumed, earning a warning for an audible obscenity.

They also demonstrated sharp eyes, using the new challenge system to overturn a number of calls, including four in two games of the third set

With Connors watching from courtside after flying in following the death of his mother, Roddick showed his new aggressiveness, charging the net after good serves and coming in whenever he got a chance, though he did get a bit more tentative as the match wore on after Safin passed him a number of times.

Safin left everything on the court, including a bit of skin. He fell flat and scraped the fingers on his right hand, and had to have treatment for a bloodied pinkie.

Williams' 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Petrova was impressive for a woman who dropped out of the top 100 for the first time since 1997 before climbing back to 95th in the year-end rankings.

She was shocked to hear she had just beaten a top 10 player for the first time since she downed Mauresmo in the final here two years ago for her seventh Grand Slam title.

``Has it been that long? That's a terrible stat,'' Williams said, shaking her head in disbelief.

Petrova has never reached the final of a major, but she raced through the first set and was serving for the match at 5-3 in the second. Then Williams found another gear.

``I really had no other option than for my game to go up,'' Williams said. ``I was down 3-5 and on the verge of being out of the tournament, and I obviously didn't want that to happen. I told myself just to stay in there and do what I had been practicing and it'll come together sooner or later.

``I think the more pressure I get, the tougher I get.''

Some have questioned Williams' fitness. There were no questions after outlasting Petrova.

``I wasn't tired at all. I'm still not tired. I feel like going to run a marathon,'' Williams said, laughing.

Williams will face No. 11 Jelena Jankovic _ a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Victoria Azarenka _ on Sunday.

Federer, bidding for a 10th major, extended his winning streak to 32 matches _ and 10 straight at Melbourne Park.

Federer was far from perfect _ he had 33 unforced errors to go with his 40 winners _ but he still made Youzhny look ordinary much of the time, using his great anticipation to retrieve what appeared to be winners and often leaving the Russian flat-footed and awkward by cleverly disguising his own shots.

About the only real trouble Federer had was with the new system of challenging close line calls. He lost four of his five challenges _ and had none left when he wanted to question a call that pulled Youzhny within 6-4 in the third-set tiebreaker _ but the one that he got right gave him an ace to finish off the first set.

Youzhny got so frustrated with Federer's impregnable defense that he pumped his fist, the crowd roaring, after a perfect cross-court winner even though it only pulled him within 40-30 on Federer's serve.

Federer next faces 14th-seeded Novak Djokovic, who beat Thailand's Danai Udomchoke. Mardy Fish advanced when veteran Wayne Arthurs retired while trailing 3-0 in the first.

No. 16 David Ferrer rallied from two sets down to beat No. 20 Radek Stepanek 6-7 (5), 4-6, 6-0, 6-4, 6-3.

No. 18 Richard Gasquet beat Gael Monfils 6-0, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in a match between two former world No. 1 juniors from France. Monfils had ousted last year's losing finalist Marcos Baghdatis in the second round.