Tennis:World number one Roger Federer produced an efficient display on serve to comfortably progress to the fourth round of the Australian Open with a straight-sets win over 31st seed Albert Montanes.
The Swiss did not allow Montanes a single break-point opportunity en route to a 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory on the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
Montanes' inability to threaten on the world number one's serve undermined an otherwise solid display from the Spaniard with Federer admitting afterwards he had struggled to match him from the back of the court.
"He might have had the upper hand (from the baseline) actually," said Federer, who won for the 50th time at the Australian Open.
"He didn't make many mistakes. I expected him to miss a bit more.
"I needed to make sure I served well because if I had a hiccup on serve it could have been an even closer game."
Federer's next assignment will be against local hope Lleyton Hewitt - a player he has beaten the last 14 times they have faced each other.
"I feel good, I feel confident," Federer said as he looked forward to the second week at Melbourne Park.
"Physically I'm fine and fresh and that's how you want to feel going into the second week."
The Swiss took the decisive break of the first set in the fourth game.
It was the only break-point chance Federer got a look at but with Montanes winning just five points in the Swiss' opening eight service games it was all he needed.
The second set was another cagey affair before Federer broke at 4-4 and served out the set before claiming another break at the start of the third to coast into the last 16.
Third seed Novak Djokovic had things even easier.
He dropped just four games against Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin as he raced into the fourth round.
Djokovic spent just one hour and 37 minutes on the Hisense Arena as he dismantled the 103rd-ranked Istomin 6-1 6-1 6-2.
The Serb admitted: "He was helping me out with a lot of unforced errors, and basically we didn't have a lot have long rallies.
"I think at some stage in the tournament you want to have a straight-sets win, an easy win.''
The 2008 champion will next play Lukasz Kubot after a wrist injury forced 20th seed Mikhail Youzhny to pull out hours before their third-round match.
The Russian had been struggling with tendinitis in his right wrist since his marathon five-set match with Richard Gasquet in the opening round on Tuesday night.
Nikolay Davydenko continued the smooth progress of the leading seeds as he dismissed Juan Monaco in straight sets.
The sixth seed started like a train and raced to a 6-0 6-3 6-4 victory.
The in-form Russian opened the season by beating both Federer and Rafael Nadal to win the title in Doha and he has dropped just 15 games in three matches so far in Melbourne.
"For sure, I want to win a Grand Slam here,'' Davydenko said.
"If I can keep at this level then maybe I have a chance.
"I am fighting for every point and that's why maybe it was 6-0 in the first set and then 3-0. I didn't make any mistake in those nine games.''
Davydenko will play ninth seed Fernando Verdasco in the last 16.
Last year's semi-finalist also had things easy on Saturday - after he took the first set by six games to one against Stefan Koubek his opponent quit due to injury.
Former finalists Hewitt and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga progressed in contrasting style during the night session.
Both men faced potentially tricky matches. However, Hewitt, the 2005 runner-up, was on court less than an hour before opponent Marcos Baghdatis quit due to a shoulder problem when trailing 6-0 4-2.
Over on the Hisense Arena, Tsonga was given a much sterner test by former world number two Tommy Haas before emerging victorious in four sets, 6-4 3-6 6-1 7-5.
He progresses to a last-16 meeting with Nicolas Almagro after the 26th seed ended the run of Colombia's Alejandro Falla with a 6-4 6-3 6-4 victory.