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Summary
Two-time champion Roger Federer reached the fourth round at the $4.5 million Sony Ericsson Open.The world No 1 Federer snuck past France's Florent Serra in a pair of tiebreaks, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3), on the hardcourts at Crandon Park. The super Swiss moved on in 1 hour, 32 minutes with the help of six aces. Each player posted three service breaks apiece in the surprisingly-tight affair. Up next for Federer would be 16th-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych, who handled Argentine Horacio Zeballos 6-4, 7-5. Fifth-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden drilled German Philipp Petzschner 6-1, 6-2 in 65 minutes. Soderling, who won at Rotterdam earlier this year, improved to 14-4 on the season. Ninth-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile will face Soderling in the fourth round. Gonzalez outlasted 22nd-seeded Argentinian Juan Monaco 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-2. Seventh-seeded rising Croat Marin Cilic continued his fine season with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over 25th-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, a former Aussie Open runner-up. Cilic needed only 76 minutes to erase the resurgent Baghdatis, who failed to enjoy even one break-point chance in the setback. Cilic will next do battle with 10th-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, who needed just over two hours to defeat 23rd-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1. Meanwhile, American Mardy Fish moved into the round of 16 with a 7-5, 6-3 mild upset victory over 29th-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain on Day 6. The hard-serving Fish toppled Aussie Open runner-up Andy Murray in the second round here last week.
