Andy Roddick and Marcos Baghdatis ensured that they would be well-rested for their fourth-round clash, putting together lightning-quick victories Friday afternoon in Melbourne.
The two former World No. 1 Juniors, Roddick in 2000 and Baghdatis in 2003, conceded just five games to their qualifier opponents as the third round of play began at the Australian Open.
Second-seeded Roddick needed only 72 minutes to defeat Frenchman Julien Benneteau, playing a flawless match in which he denied the qualifier any break chances. Roddick, in contrast, converted six of his seven opportunities to break Benneteau's serve, fired 17 aces and smashed 28 winners.
The 24-year-old Frenchman, ranked No. 162 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings, had upset No. 27 seed Guillermo Garcia Lopez on Wednesday to earn his second career meeting with the World No. 3. In that match at the Rogers Masters in Toronto, Roddick had also prevailed over Benneteau in straight sets.
With the win, Roddick improved his all-time Australian record to 18-4. In his previous three appearances at the event, the 23-year-old has reach the semifinals twice and quarterfinals once.
In the match between Baghdatis and qualifier Dennis Gremelmayr, the Cypriot prevailed in an 80-minute match that produced a combined 10 breaks of serve.
Both players earned their right to play in the third round following five-set upsets over seeded opponents. In just his fifth ATP-level tournament and first Grand Slam, Gremelmayr battled from two sets down to stun 13th seed Robby Ginepri. Baghdatis, in turn, regrouped after losing his two set lead to oust Slovak Radek Stepanek, seeded No. 17.
Baghdatis, who is ranked No. 54 in the INDESIT ATP Ranking, fell to Roger Federer in the fourth round last year after notching wins over Federico Luzzi, Ivan Ljubicic and Tommy Robredo.
Also in early action Friday, Spaniard David Ferrer kept his best career Australian Open appearance alive as he advanced to the fourth round with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win over Croat Mario Ancic.
The 11th seed, whose best showing previously came in a second-round loss to Sjeng Schalken in 2003, easily unhinged the Croatian Davis Cup hero whose 35 unforced errors accounted for nearly a third of Ferrer's points won.
Joining the Spaniard in the fourth round will be Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, who nearly blew a two-set lead to Gaston Gaudio before winning 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 1-6, 6-4.
The eighth-seeded Argentine failed to complete his comeback despite taking the early break to go up 2-0 in the deciding set. Gaudio's cause was hampered by his inability to convert when it counted, capitalizing on a dismal seven of 25 break chances.
Santoro, who is making his 14th career appearance in the Australian Open singles draw, last reached the fourth round in 1999 when he came up against German Tommy Haas.
One half of the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai winning team, the 33-year-old Santoro is also seeded fifth in the doubles with new partner Nenad Zimonjic.
Ferrer owns a 1-0 career advantage over Santoro, with the win coming last year at the Rogers Masters in Montreal. (ATP)
