Melbourne, January 19:

Roger Federer survived the 4 1/2 hours battle to outlast 49th-ranked Janko Tipsarevic 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1), 5-7, 6-1,10-8 on Saturday to advance to the Australian Open fourth round, of the tournament he has won the last two years.

Federer next faces No 12 Tomas Berdych who defeated No 21 Juan Monaco. James Blake, seeded 12th, overcame Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean 4-6, 2-6, 6-0, 7-6 (5), 6-2 to keep American hopes alive after Sam Querrey fell to No. 3 Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-1, 6-3.

Seventh-seeded Fernando Gonzalez was ousted 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1 by Croatia’s

Marin Cilic. Two of Russia’s top 10 women also were ousted. No 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova was beaten 6-3, 6-4 by Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and No 6 Anna Chakvetadze lost 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-2 to No 27 Maria Kirilenko.

Fourth-seeded Ana Ivanovic advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No 28 Katarina Srebotnik. Eighth-ranked Venus Williams beat No 31 Sania Mirza of India 7-6, 6-4.