Tennis: Nothing X-rated for Federer this time in routine victory

Federer was taken to five sets by Frenchman Gilles Simon on Wednesday night but was largely untroubled by Belgian Malisse, winning 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 in one hour and 45 minutes.

Malisse looked good in the baseline exchange but Federer always seemed to have the answers when it really mattered.

The Swiss made a storming start, racing to a 5-0 lead. Malisse pulled it back with a break of his own but Federer closed it out. The Belgian threatened a comeback at the start of the second as he broke to establish a 3-1 lead.

But the 16-time grand slam champion simply upped his level to rattle off five consecutive games to extend his lead.

Malisse cut a despondent figure in the third as Federer toyed with him. The Belgian finally got on the board late in the set, offering a bow to the crowd in mock celebration, before Federer cruised to victory.

Defending champion Federer said afterwards: "I am still happy I passed the test against Simon. Today wasn't a whole lot easier although the scoreline might suggest it."

In the other men's matches, Novak Djokovic advanced after Viktor Troicki retired after the first set, Tommy Robredo beat Sergiy Stakhovsky in four sets, Tomas Berdych recorded a straight-sets win over Richard Gasquet, while Nicolas Almagro and Andy Roddick also progressed.

Meanwhile, Caroline Wozniacki's chances of landing a maiden grand slam crown at the Australian Open improved after she advanced to the fourth round before watching one of her main rivals crash out.

The top-seeded Dane beat Dominika Cibulkova 6-4 6-3 in the opening match on Rod Laver Arena, with the second providing the tournament's biggest shock to date as 11th seed Justine Henin lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Henin's lowly seeding can be largely attributed to an elbow injury which saw her miss the latter part of 2010, but having impressed in her first two matches she was expected to come close to landing an eighth major crown at Melbourne Park.

But she met a tough opponent in Kuznetsova, who conquered some nervy moments to edge through 6-4, 7-6 (10/8) and set up a last-16 meeting with French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, who beat Monica Niculescu 6-0, 7-6 (7/2).

"It's disappointing to lose like this," Henin said. "She was better than me, especially in the important moments."

Wozniacki had a few troubles of her own before seeing off diminutive Slovakian Cibulkova. "I felt great out there today, I think I played a pretty good match," she said.

Wozniacki will meet Anastasija Sevastova next following the Latvian's 6-1 6-3 defeat of Russian qualifier Vesna Manasieva.

China's Na Li and Belorussian Victoria Azarenka also progressed, beating Barbora Zahlavova Strycova and Chanelle Scheepers respectively.