Australian Open

Fifth-seeded David Ferrer, who lost to Federer in the Masters Cup final in November, beat fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. He will play third-ranked Novak Djokovic, who ousted the last Australian hope when he defeated No. 19 Lleyton Hewitt 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. Hewitt didn't have his usual high energy level after beating Marcos Baghdatis in five sets in his previous match, which didn't end until 4:33 a.m. Sunday. That match was delayed by the length of Federer's victory over Tipsarevic.

Roger Federer sure didn't want to put in another 4½ hours. So he made fast work of Tomas Berdych 6-4, 7-6 (7), 6-3 Monday to continue his march to a third consecutive Australian Open title and narrow his pursuit of Pete Sampras' record 14 Grand Slam titles. Federer next faces American James Blake, a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 winner over 19-year-old Croatian Marin Cilic, advancing past the fourth round here for the first time and matching his best Grand Slam showing.

Venus Williams, the eighth-seeded woman, realizes she needs to get over her slow starts. She had to fight back twice from service breaks in the first set before advancing to the quarters with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Marta Domachowska, a qualifier from Poland. She next faces No. 4 Ana Ivanovic, who put together a 6-1, 7-6 (2) win over Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki. No. 8 Daniela Hantuchova beat No. 27 Maria Kirilenko 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 and will next play Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, who upset No. 14 Nadia Petrova 1-6, 7-5, 6-0. Williams is hoping that she can meet sister Serena, who was sitting courtside, in the final. Serena, the defending champion, is in the other half of the draw, where she next meets No. 3 Jelena Jankovic on Tuesday. A victory would set up a matchup between the winner of the other quarterfinal between top-seeded Justine Henin and No. 5 Maria Sharapova, last year's losing finalist.

Australian Open