MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Roger Federer and Tomas Berdych continued their 12-year rivalry on the tennis court with a predictable result – a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 victory for Federer.
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The 17-time Grand Slam winner won for the 17th time in 23 matches against Berdych and handed the Czech player his sixth consecutive loss between the pair.
The 10th-seeded Berdych had beaten Federer twice previously at Grand Slams, and he was considered a big threat to the 17th-seeded Federer, whose ranking has dropped following six months off because of a left knee injury.
But Federer looked completely at ease and never faced a break point in the Rod Laver Arena match.
Federer will play Kei Nishikori in the fourth round, who advanced to the fourth round at the Australian Open for the sixth straight year with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over Lukas Lacko, a qualifier ranked 121st.
The 2014 U.S. Open finalist has not lost to a player ranked outside the top 100 since he was beaten by 179th-ranked qualifier Daniel Evans in the first round at the 2013 U.S. Open.