Andy Roddick Bounced in Fourth Round

Andy Roddick lost Sunday to Stanislas Wawrinka, meaning there will be no Americans in the men's or women's quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

Wawrinka's 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win means two Swiss men will meet in a major quarterfinal for the first time in the Open era. Wawrinka will face defending champion Roger Federer, who matched the mark for most consecutive appearances in the final eight at Grand Slams.

"Obviously wasn't the showing that we wanted, you know, but I'm doing what I can," said Roddick, who said Wawrinka completely outplayed him.

Roddick, seeded eighth, had been the last American man standing in the singles field. The women were out before the third round ended. Venus Williams lasted only seven points before she hobbled off with an ailing hip muscle.

Since Roddick's 2003 U.S. Open victory, no American man has won a major. Venus and sister Serena Williams have won 10 majors between them in the interim, and 20 between them overall. Serena was the 2010 champion in Australia, but couldn't defend her title because of a foot injury.

"Not having the best player in the world at a major would be ... be tough for any country. Obviously we want her healthy as much as possible," Roddick said of Serena. "You know, she's instantly the best player in the game when she comes back."

Federer beat Tommy Robredo 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals for the 27th major in a row.

Federer added another record to his vast collection, matching Jimmy Connors' mark for consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals appearances.

Federer has reached the quarterfinals in 27 consecutive majors since his third-round loss in the 2004 French Open, equaling Connors' Open-era record.

The 16-time Grand Slam winner didn't concede a point on his serve in the first set, but had a lapse in the second when Robredo's serve was dominant and he took a set off Federer for only the third time in 10 matches.

"I was struggling with my return -- I couldn't get the balls into play I wanted to," Federer said. "I didn't have the best of games at 4-3 down -- we don't have much margin at the very top and it shows."

Federer regained control in the third set and dominated after getting an early break to lead 2-0.

"It's a lot of hard work. I'm sweating bullets right now," he said. "I'm excited to be in the next round."

He admitted he'd had a tough first week, including a five-set win over Gilles Simon.

"I'm in another quarterfinal. Got all the chances to make it to the semis again," Federer said, "so I'm very pleased."

No. 3-ranked Novak Djokovic is aiming for his second Australian crown. The 2008 champion advanced to the quarterfinals for the 13th time in the past 15 majors with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 win over No. 14 Nicolas Almagro and will next play 2010 Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych, who beat Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.

Roger Federer Wins; Andy Roddick Rolls

Defending champion Roger Federer admitted he was lucky to escape Wednesday with a victory at the Australian Open, edging Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 in the second round.

Early on, it seemed as if Simon -- one of only three players on the ATP Tour to hold a winning record against Federer, beating him twice -- would send the Swiss star packing out of a Grand Slam before the third round for the first time since the French Open in 2003 -- a total of 31 majors.

"I remained positive ... it paid off. I got lucky. I'm happy I'm still in the tournament," Federer said.

"I wasn't playing poorly in the third and fourth set, but Gilles took it to me. Clearly, he's a great player first of all. Matches against him don't come easily ... hopefully we don't play each other anymore."

Simon said he needed "time to get used to [Federer's] game," which helped him win the third and fourth sets.

"It's going fast, he's moving fast, it's just impressive," Simon said. "There are not too many players able to play to this level."

The tennis was just as good elsewhere at Melbourne Park -- Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick also advanced.

No. 3 Djokovic beat Ivan Dodig 7-5, 6-7 (10), 6-0, 6-2. Djokovic, who beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 2008 final in Melbourne Park for his only Grand Slam title, is in career-best form.

He appeared comfortable all over the court against Croatia's Dodig, who challenged Djokovic in the first two sets with a powerful serve and strong baseline shots. Djokovic responded with his own baseline winners into back corners on both sides, as well as cross-court volleys on the rare occasion Dodig sliced to draw him to the net.

Djokovic will play his Davis Cup teammate Viktor Troicki after the 29th-seeded player beat Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.

Roddick, who had 17 aces, saved two set points in the first-set tiebreak, serving to even it at 6-6, then won on his first set point.

The American broke to go up 2-0 in the second set and avoided another service break in the fifth. He said he was finding his range.

"I think when you're confident, the court just makes sense; decisions come easier to you," Roddick said. "A lot of it comes naturally. There's not a whole lot of thought process. You're not forcing a lot. The ball kind of, I guess, reacts the way you want it to.

"So I feel comfortable out there right now."

It was Roddick's third straight win over Kunitsyn but his first on a hard court. The American beat Kunitsyn in the second round at Wimbledon in 2009.

Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych needed four match points to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.

Roddick's U.S. Davis Cup teammate Mardy Fish made a second-round exit, the No. 16 seed losing 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to Tommy Robredo. And ninth-seeded Fernando Verdasco rallied from two sets down to beat Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (0), 6-0, conceding just one point on his serve in the last set.