Federer Wins 16th Straight Slam Match; Coria, Davydenko Also Advance

Federer's third-round opponent will be top Belarussian player, Max Mirnyi, who defeated Italian Davide Sanguinetti on Thursday. Mirnyi, seeded 30th in the singles draw and second in the doubles draw (with Swede Jonas Bjorkman), sports a 5-6 record at the event and had previously failed to advance past the first round in his last four appearances.

Italian Federico Luzzi mounted a stiff challenge to Coria to begin the match, but crumbled after losing the tie-break, 12-10, in the 74-minute first set. The sixth-seeded Argentine used the momentum to take the next two sets and seal the win.

Kevin Kim also came out strong to begin his match against sixth-seeded Davydenko, but the No. 1 Russian player quickly dismissed the American 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 after losing the first set.

Melbourne fans got the biggest thrill of the afternoon when hometown favorite Peter Luczak triumphed over No. 24 seed Olivier Rochus.

With an enclave of green and gold clad Aussies packing the stands, the wild card recipient outshone his counterpart to seal the 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-1, 6-7(1), 6-1 win.

Luczak, at No. 139 ranked 94 spots behind the Belgian in the pre-Australian Open INDESIT ATP Rankings, previously reached the third round in his first Australian Open appearance back in 2003, where he lost to Croat Mario Ancic.

Meanwhile, Rochus's countryman, Kristof Vliegen, managed to score an upset in second round play as he defeated the 28th seed, Fernando Verdasco. The 23-year-old will await the winner of the Lleyton Hewitt-Juan Ignacio Chela match, to be played Thursday evening. (ATP)