MELBOURNE, Australia -- Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are taking similar paths to a potential semifinal matchup at the Australian Open.
Meanwhile, the last U.S. man fell out of the tournament when No. 16 John Isner lost to Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-7 (0), 6-1. It marks the first time since the start of the Open Era in 1968 that no American men have reached the fourth round at the Australian Open.
Neither the four-time Australian champion Federer nor 2009 titleholder Nadal have dropped a set, although Federer's path was made easier by a walkover win in the second round. They are in the same half of a Grand Slam singles draw for the first time since 2005.
Nadal, his right knee still taped from a recent injury, showed no problems while moving briskly around the court in a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win over qualifier Lukas Lacko.
Federer then edged Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-3, saving a set point in the tiebreaker with a scrambling lob over the 6-foot-10 Croatian. Nadal will face Lopez, and Federer will play Australian teenager Bernard Tomic on Sunday.
No. 7 Tomas Berdych beat No. 30 Kevin Anderson of South Africa 7-6 (5), 7-6 (1), 6-1 and will play No. 10 Nicolas Almagro of Spain, who beat 21st-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-4.
Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany defeated Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (3), 11th-seeded Juan Martin del Potro beat Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan 6-2, 6-3, 6-0 and Tomic defeated 13th-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 4-6, 7-6 (0), 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-3. Del Potro plays Kohlschreiber in the fourth round.
Australian teenager Bernard Tomic will face Roger Federer in the fourth round of the Australian Open after a 4-6, 7-6 (0), 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-3 win over Alexandr Dolgopolov on Friday.
Tomic reached the last 16 at his home Grand Slam for the first time in his career after a cat-and-mouse match against the 13th-seeded Ukrainian.
The 3-hour, 49-minute match featured a number of lengthy rallies, with each player trying to outmaneuver the other by using an unusual variety of shots.
Here are the Highlights of Day 5 action aht the Australian Open 2012 :
Following are the Key Matches to be held on Day 6 (21st January) at the Australian Open 2012 :
Singles - Third Round
[1] N Djokovic (SRB) vs N Mahut (FRA)
[4] A Murray (GBR) vs M Llodra (FRA)
[27] J Chela (ARG) vs [5] D Ferrer (ESP)
F Gil (POR) vs [6] J Tsonga (FRA)
M Kukushkin (KAZ) vs [14] G Monfils (FRA)
[9] J Tipsarevic (SRB) vs [17] R Gasquet (FRA)
J Benneteau(FRA) vs [24] K Nishikori (JPN)
[23] M Raonic (CAN) vs L Hewitt (AUS)
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