Roddick powers through

Andy Roddick and David Ferrer cruised into the fourth round as eighth seed Gaston Gaudio crashed out at the Australian Open.

Roddick is still to play a match longer than two hours after thrashing French qualifier Julien Benneteau 6-1 6-2 6-2 in just 82 minutes at Melbourne Park.

Number 11 seed Ferrer downed 18th seed Mario Ancic in straight sets, the big-hitting Croatian hitting more winners but making almost twice as many unforced errors as his Spanish opponent.

After losing the opening set, Ancic was up a break in the second but Ferrer bounced back to take the set before going on to win 6-3 6-3 6-3.

Meanwhile, Gaudio recovered from two sets to love down only to lose in five to Frenchman Fabrice Santoro.

In an epic match played in searing 35-degree heat, Santoro eventually prevailed after almost four hours 6-3 6-2 5-7 1-6 6-4.

Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis equalled his best performance in the tournament as he moved into the fourth round with a crushing straight-sets win over German Denis Gremelmayr.

Baghdatis reeled off 27 winners as he won 6-2 6-1 6-2 in only 80 minutes to set up a fourth-round clash with second seed Roddick.