MELBOURNE - Roger Federer equaled Jimmy Connors' Grand Slam record of 27 consecutive quarterfinal appearances as he overcame Tommy Robredo in four sets at the Australian Open on Sunday.

The Swiss defending champion and second seed took 2 hr 25 min to wear down the unseeded Spaniard, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

The last time the Swiss great missed out on a slam quarterfinal was at the 2004 French Open when he was knocked out in the third round.

Federer will play compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka in Tuesday's quarters.

Federer got away to a strong start but began mistiming his shots and lost rhythm to drop the second set before re-establishing command and pulling away from Robredo in the final two sets on Rod Laver Arena.

"Tommy makes you work extremely hard, he has a great forehand and I'm sweating bullets and happy the match is over," Federer said soon after coming off court.

"I was struggling with my returns in the second set and lost rhythm from the baseline and the game when I was 4-3 down was not my best.

"I came out for the third set looking to try something different as he was doing a great job in moving me around and I played a huge game to go 2-0."

It was Federer's 10th win in as many encounters against Robredo and it took him to a record 58 match victories at the Australian Open.

He broke Swede Stefan Edberg's record of 56 for most Open Era wins at the Australian Open in the third round against Xavier Malisse.

Federer is bidding for his fifth Australian title which would extend his record Grand Slam haul to 17.

Federer has a winning record against both his potential quarterfinal opponents. He leads eighth seed Roddick 20-2 and close friend and No 19 seed Wawrinka 6-1.

Federer's play with Wawrinka in the quarterfinals will be the first all-Swiss last-eight match at a Grand Slam in the Open Era.

It would also be the latest stage of a Grand Slam to feature two Swiss players after Federer defeated Wawrinka in the fourth round at last year's French Open.

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 01/24/2011 page24)