Frenchmen Grosjean, Mathieu Advance to Showdown at Australian Open

Grosjean will now meet countryman Paul-Henri Mathieu in the last 16 after the unseeded Frenchman recorded his third consecutive straight-sets win with a 7-6(3), 7-6(7), 6-1 victory over Peruvian Luis Horna.

But it was Grosjean who caused the first upset of the sixth day against Coria in what was the second career meeting between the two, with the Argentine winning on hard courts at the 2004 Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells.

Grosjean raced through the first two sets with the loss of just four games, but Coria began his fightback at the start of the third, breaking for 2-0 before going up a double break at 4-1. Grosjean recovered one break but Coria wrapped up the third set with another break to put the pressure back on the Frenchman.

Grosjean, a semifinalist in Melbourne in 2001, immediately gathered his composure and seemed to have a place in the fourth round all but guaranteed as he served for the match at 5-2 in the fourth, only to see Coria break back and hold for 5-4. At the second time of asking, the No. 25 seed completed his victory, sealing a place in the last 16 for the fourth time.

Meanwhile, his fellow Frenchman Mathieu had fewer problems against Horna, firing 18 aces in their third round encounter. This is the second time Mathieu has reached the last 16 at a Grand Slam and first since Roland Garros 2002 (lost to Andre Agassi after leading by two sets). Mathieu is yet to drop a set this tournament and has never met Grosjean before on the ATP circuit.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela continued his impressive form in Melbourne with a third round win over Belgian Kristof Vliegen.

Chela, who defeated Britain's Andy Murray in the first round before stunning local favorite and No. 3 seed Lleyton Hewitt in the second, reached the last 16 for the first time with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

The 26-year-old from Buenos Aires saved all eight break points against him en route to a 2-hour, 4 minute win over Vliegen, and will now face either Juan Carlos Ferrero or Nicolas Kiefer for a place in the quarterfinals.

Later in the day, Dominik Hrbaty came back from 2-4 down in the final set against Sydney finalist Igor Andreev to record his third consecutive five-set victory of the tournament and reach the fourth round.

Hrbaty, a quarterfinalist in Melbourne last year, came back to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to claim his 12th win from his past 14 five-set matches (16-7 record overall). (ATP)