Lleyton Hewitt moved within touching distance of his first title in more than two years and first clay court championship in a decade after defeating Russian Evgeny Korolev in the semi-finals of the US Men's Clay Court Championships.

Russia’s Marat Safin battled back to overcome Dudi Sela in five sets to set up a mouth-watering third-round clash with American Andy Roddick at the Australian Open.

Defending champion Roger Federer felt the success of his serve had contributed significantly in his straight sets victory over Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman at the Australian Open.

Roger Federer headed a near clean sweep by the men’s seeds during the fourth day of the Australian Open in Melbourne.