• Australian Open, Day Five

What They Said

Rafael Nadal was comfortable on serve © Getty Images

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Rafael Nadal was solid throughout his match as he swatted aside Lukas Lacko 6-2 6-4 6-2, saying: "I am playing well. If you are playing well, things can be a little bit less difficult. If you are playing bad, every match will be very, very difficult, no? I did well. I played both matches, three matches at very good level. Today was one of the best, solid, without mistakes, comfortable with the serve, having good return.

"So nothing is easy. Everything is difficult. Every match you have your problems. First set was 6‑2, but was a really tough set. That's my feeling. Was a tough one. But I played solid all the match, so that's why I got the result."

Roger Federer had to battle his way past big-serving Ivo Karlovic, particularly during the first-set tiebreaker, but had his composure to thank for the win, saying: "I knew going in it was going to be tough. I played him 10 times, and we've played some breakers. I knew it could come down to a few here and there. I definitely got a bit fortunate and started to play better as the match went on."

Caroline Wozniacki is yet to drop a set en route to the fourth round, but explained she felt frustrated at being forced to make her own shot speed against Monica Niculescu, saying: "There's not too much rhythm (against her). She slices a lot from both sides and can play aggressive so you have to be on your feet to beat her."

Third seed Victoria Azarenka finished her third-round match in controversial fashion, after using up all her call challenges earlier in the match. Afterwards she made no excuses for completing the win on her fifth match point, saying: "I'm playing pretty good. At the end I was not brave enough to finish the match but I'm glad I managed to in the end - I had to kick myself to finally finish it."

Kim Clijsters made amends for an early season defeat to Daniele Hantuchova, progressing after beating her 6-3 6-2 at Hisense Arena: "I wasn't playing my best tennis but I fought all the way," Clijsters said.

Last time she played on the court, she was beaten 6-0 6-1 by Nadia Petrova. "I wanted to play well, to really focus and not let that happen again," she said. "I think it made me focus a bit more."

In the doubles, British duo Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins continued their adventure with an easy victory over the Russian pair of Alex Bogomolov Jnr and Igor Kunitsyn. "It was a strong performance and a great victory," Fleming told the BBC. "We've done well in grand slams and have high expectations but it's still nice to be in third round."

Hutchins added: "We've been playing together for a year now and it takes time. Some partnerships gel very quickly, we took our time but we feel really good now. We're happy, comfortable on court, enjoy travelling together and we're good friends. Hopefully it can be a successful partnership."

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