Melbourne, Australia (Sports Network) - Defending champion Roger Federer and former world No. 1 Andy Roddick will play their quarterfinal matches Tuesday at the Australian Open.
The top-seeded/world No. 1 Federer will encounter seventh-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo, while the sixth-seeded Roddick will battle his good friend and fellow American Mardy Fish, who is unseeded at this hardcourt fortnight.
Federer is a laughable 6-0 lifetime against Robredo and the Swiss superstar has lost only one set versus the Spaniard. The two have never met in a Grand Slam event.
The 25-year-old Federer has won his last 11 matches at the Aussie Open and has captured his last 33 matches overall, dating back to last season. The super Swiss owns nine career Grand Slam titles, including a pair of victories here in Melbourne. He beat Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in last year's finale here and also captured this major in 2004.
Federer is the reigning Aussie Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open champ.
The 2006 Wimbledon runner-up Roddick is 4-1 all-time against his pal Fish, with all the wins coming in their last four matchups. The two have never squared off in a Grand Slam event.
Tuesday's winners will meet in the semis.
The other quarters will be staged here on Wednesday, when second-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal will encounter 10th-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez and third-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko will battle 12th-seeded German Tommy Haas.
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Williams gets shot at an eighth slamJanuary 21, 2007 - 12:59PM
A day of upsets at the Australian Open has presented former champion Serena Williams with the prospect of pulling off the biggest shock of all and winning an eighth grand slam title.
If she can add a third Australian crown to her record on Saturday, Williams would become only the second unseeded player in the Open era to win a major singles championship.
Ranked 81st in the world, Williams blasted her way into the quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-2 defeat of 11th seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, a win which has put her on course for a title showdown.
Jankovic became Williams' third seeded victim.
As well as her own form, it is the disappearance from the championship - and from Williams' half of the draw - of defending champion and second seed Amelie Mauresmo and third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova that has paved the way to a third Australian final for the American.
On the other side of the draw top seed Maria Sharapova and fourth-seeded Kim Clijsters remain on track for a semi-final showdown.
After Sunday, the highest-ranked player in Williams' section of the draw is 10th seed Nicole Vaidisova, who beat seventh seed Elena Dementieva 6-3 6-3 on Sunday.
Australia's Chris O'Neill, who won the Australian Open in 1978, is the only unseeded women's grand slam champion in the Open era.
Her win came as a genuine shock, which wouldn't be the case with Williams.
Although she is unseeded and ranked just inside 100, the former world No.1 is only at that level because of injuries which kept her out of the game for much of last year.
It is a situation she is happy to be in.
"I've set some goals for myself for this year," Williams said.
"So far this tournament has gone very well and I'm pretty happy.
"I like being a dangerous floater."
Williams first won the Australian Open in 2003, the victory giving her possession of all four grand slam titles.
She won again in 2005, bringing her grand slam tally to seven.
While Williams' win was, on paper, the biggest upset, Mauresmo's loss to world No.70 Lucie Safarova in their fourth-round match ranked higher.
The 19-year-old Safarova said she set out simply to "make winners" and succeeded in a style that surprised even her.
"First time on Rod Laver Arena, so I was a little bit not feeling so well on the court.
"But then it was getting better and better.
"It was like for me amazing."
Safarova won 6-4 6-3 in a match where Mauresmo had barely a sniff of victory.
In another surprise result, Israeli 16th seed Shahar Peer knocked out third seed Kuznetsova of Russia 6-4 6-2.
Peer reached her first grand slam quarter-final with such ease she thought her opponent was carrying an injury.
"At the beginning I thought 'maybe she's injured or something'," Peer said.
"She was looking at her coach a lot, that took my concentration a little bit off.
"After that it was simple. I just played well."
The upsets weren't confined to the top of the draw.
In a lesser upset, 19th seeded Chinese Li Na put out Russian ninth seed Dinara Safina 6-2 6-2 in a third-round match held over from Saturday.
The losses of Mauresmo and Kuznetsova leaves Belgium's Clijsters as the greatest challenger to Sharapova.
In Monday's fourth-round matches, Sharapova plays fellow Russian and 22nd seed Vera Zvonereva; another Russian, Anna Chakvetadze (seeded 17), meets Patty Schnyder (
of Switzerland; Clijsters (4) plays Daniela Hantuchova (15) and three-time Australian champion Martina Hingis (6) plays Li (19).
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