MELBOURNE, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Eighth-seeded David Nalbandian rallied from two sets down Saturday before advancing to the fourth round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
While Nalbandian was struggling, higher seeded players were cruising and the rain put a hitch in the open's schedule as the year's first Grand Slam event completed its first week.
Nalbandian dropped his first two sets to Sebastien Grosjean before escaping with a 5-7, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-1 victory. He doesn't know who he'll play in the next round, however, because the match between Tommy Haas and Florian Mayer was rained out.
No. 2 seeded Rafael Nadal had little trouble in dispatching Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 and next draws 15th-seeded Andy Murray, who beat Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
Third-seeded Nikolay Davydenko was pushed to a first set tiebreaker but regained his footing after that for a 7-6 (7-1), 6-2, 6-2 win over Fabrice Santoro and now goes against either Tomas Berdych or Dmitry Tursunov.
No. 5 James Blake continued his strong run with a 7-6 (9-7), 7-5, 6-2 win over Robby Ginepri. Blake has a fourth-round date with the 10th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, who beat Lleyton Hewitt, 6-2, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.
