Ice-cool Roger Federer would love to let rip

The first week of the Australian Open has seen rows between players and umpires over bad calls while Marcos Baghdatis destroyed four rackets in just 25 seconds during a change over in his defeat to Stanislas Wawrinka.

Despite the frustrations of a walkover on Wednesday robbing him of match practice and then facing a set point early in this third-round match, it was hard to fathom just what Federer was actually feeling today. When he started out on Tour - he has now played a remarkable 998 matches - the Swiss was known for racket throwing and tantrums. So does the face of men's tennis wish he could let rip on court?

He said: "Definitely, at times, you feel like you would like to do something crazy. Then again, what? Everybody would be going 'Oh, my God, did he just do that?' especially now that people don't remember me from 10, 12 years ago. They only remember me from seven, eight years ago where I never threw a racquet. So that's why I know how to keep my act together, and, I guess be a good role model and just keep it calm. It works well."

Having been given a walkover by the injured Andreas Beck, Federer believes the Karlovic workout was just the tonic he needed.

"Overall I feel good," said the world No3. "It was a good match for me with no back issues at all. So it was a good day at the office."

As the chairman of the Players' Council, Federer takes a wider view of the sport and the refusal of an umpire to allow David Nalbandian to challenge a call on Wednesday has raised the question of how long should be allowed by officials. Some players wander up to the spot and then ask for a Hawk-Eye replay while others, such as Federer, indicate right away.

"The Nalbandian match was just crazy, there were misunderstandings and the crowd was loud," he said. "Umpires somehow need to be super flexible and firm but also the players need to be the same. You wish we were talking about how great they were ­serving and ­returning and playing instead of talking about one stupid call."

Rafael Nadal took less than two hours to account for Slovak qualifier Lukas Lacko, who will face Britain in next month's Davis Cup tie in Glasgow.
The world No2 was delighted with the speed of his 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 victory and the absence of any pain from his right leg. Nadal said: "The knee is fine and that's the important thing. The match was a really solid one and I'm very happy about my game. Being in the fourth round without losing a set is fantastic."

In the women's section, world No1 Caroline Wozniacki defeated Romanian Monica Niculescu 6-2, 6-2. The Dane will now face Jelena Jankovic, the Serbian 13th seed, who saw off American Christina McHale 6-2, 6-0.

Victoria Azarenka won 6-2, 6-4 against Mona Barthel of Germany although the match will be remembered for the third seed's bad tempered end to proceedings. She had row with a line judge which saw her booed by the crowd as she served for the match. Azarenka had run out of Hawk-Eye challenges and believed her opponent's shot had gone out but was called in.

Meanwhile, Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins moved into round three of the doubles after beating Russians Alex Bogomolov Jr and Igor Kunitsyn 6-0, 6-3. The Britons will now play No1 seeds Bob and Mike Bryan.