MELBOURNE, Australia — The drama started with a rare five-setter for Roger Federer. Then Lleyton Hewitt carried on almost to dawn.
Day 6 at the Australian Open was a long, long journey. About one-third of the 15,000 people with tickets for the Saturday night session didn’t leave until Hewitt smacked a forehand past Marcos Baghdatis at 4:33 a.m. Sunday morning.
Federer needed 4 hours, 27 minutes to beat 49th-ranked Janko Tipsarevic 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1), 5-7, 6-1, 10-8 in an extended afternoon match that pushed back the night session at least two hours.
Federer had won 30 straight sets at Melbourne Park since dropping the first in the 2006 final against Baghdatis. The Swiss star had lost just six games in his first two matches this year.
“It’s not such a relief — it’s more happiness,” Federer told the crowd at Rod Laver Arena, where he has won the last two Australian titles and three overall. “I’m happy I could deliver a five-set thriller. It was good to be part of something like this.”
David Nalbandian and Juan Carlos Ferrero stepped back on the same court to begin the Sunday schedule just over 6 hours after Hewitt and Baghdatis walked off.
Former No. 1 Ferrero beat 10th-seeded Nalbandian 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 in a third-round match postponed by rain Saturday. In another third-rounder, No. 5 David Ferrer beat American Vincent Spadea 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. Ferrero will play Ferrer in the fourth round.
Wedged between the epic five-setters Saturday, Venus Williams finished off Sania Mirza in straight sets after declining an invitation to either postpone that match or move to Vodafone Arena, the other stadium with a roof at Melbourne Park.
So when Hewitt tossed the ball up for his first serve it was 11:47 p.m. — the latest start for a singles match in the history of the Australian Open. He broke Baghdatis on his fifth match point 4:45 later to win 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-3.
“Obviously, an incredible day of tennis,” Hewitt said, sounding hoarse and tired. “I mean, for Roger Federer to go five sets — how often does that happen?”
Hewitt joked that his 2-year-old daughter, Mia, would be awake and ready to play when he got back to his apartment.
Hewitt will play No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who ousted Sam Querrey 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 to leave James Blake as the best U.S. hope at the Open.
Blake rallied from two sets down and then a double-break in the fourth to beat Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean 4-6, 2-6, 6-0, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
“That’s got to be my biggest comeback,” Blake said, referring to his second victory after nine straight losses in five-set matches. “Just seemed like every time there was a mountain to climb … couldn’t have been a better feeling than to accomplish what I did.”
Next up is 6-foot-5 Marin Cilic, a 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1 winner over last year’s losing finalist, Fernando Gonzalez.
On the women’s side, Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova set up a quarterfinal showdown at the Australian Open, making quick work of overmatched opponents Sunday in sharp contrast to the long Saturday session at Melbourne Park.
The top-ranked Henin beat Hsieh Su-wei, the first Taiwanese player through to the fourth round of a Grand Slam event, 6-2, 6-2 in 74 minutes to extend her winning streak to 32 matches.
Sharapova routed No. 11 Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-0 in 62 minutes.
The fifth-ranked Sharapova was expected to have a tough time against Dementieva, but broke her fellow Russian’s serve six of seven times, including at love to finish off.
Two of the Russia’s top women lost Saturday. No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova fell 6-3, 6-4 to 18-year-old Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze was beaten 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-2 by No. 27 Maria Kirilenko.
No. 4 Ana Ivanovic advanced 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 28 Katarina Srebotnik and No. 8 Venus Williams recovered an early break to beat Mirza of India 7-6 (0), 6-4.
Federer said his five-setter would give him a good idea of where he stands as he bids to make an 11th consecutive Grand Slam final. A title would move him within one of Pete Sampras’ record 14 majors.
“I don’t have them often, except at Wimbledon against (Rafael) Nadal,” said Federer, who needed every one of his personal best 39 aces to fend off the 2001 Australian Open junior champion. “So it’s good.”
In 35 majors, Federer is 9-4 in matches that have gone five sets.
His last five-set match at Melbourne, a semifinal defeat to Marat Safin in 2005, broke up his titles in ‘04, ‘06 and ‘07.
Federer said he feared another early exit when he missed some chances, starting with a shot at serving for the first set at 5-3.
Tipsarevic went on the attack from that point, stepping into Federer’s serves and ripping winners off both sides.
“All the opportunities missed put me in a lot of pressure,” Federer said. “I was back against the wall and I was playing a guy who’s confident and believes in his chance. But I tried to sort of block that out when I entered the fifth set, and I was happy I really served well and didn’t give him much opportunity.”
Hewitt wasted chances, including a match point in the eighth game of the fourth set.
After letting a 5-1 lead slip in the fourth set, Hewitt ensured he’d pass the record for the latest finishing match at a major when he held for a 6-5 lead at 3:34 a.m. — the same time Italy’s Andreas Seppi finished off Bobby Reynolds in a 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-3 match in the first round in Australia last year.
He broke Baghdatis twice in the fifth, the second after the Cypriot saved triple match point and was laughing almost deliriously with each.
Hewitt ranked the win among his best in a career that includes U.S. Open and Wimbledon titles.
“Tonight is definitely up there,” he said. “Marcos has beaten two Grand Slam winners in his first rounds. He hasn’t had an easy draw to get through at all. He’s a tough guy to finish off.”
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