Australian Open 2012 Results: What We Learned from Men's Draw on Jan. 20

The 2012 Australian Open has made for some of the more promising tennis through two rounds of play in the men's draw.

Third-round play on January 20th was no different, as Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer would take the court for their third-round matches.

The top players in the game have been able to take care of business and prove their worth as the game's best. Both, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have won each of their matches in straight sets.

This is what tennis fans and those around the game have learned after the Jan. 20 matches.

Rafael Nadal Has a Legitimate Shot at Beating Djokovic

Given the type of dominance world No. 1 Novak Djokovic brought to the table in 2011, 2012 has to be a year in which Nadal and Federer make a run at Novak early.

Inevitably, the more matches Djokovic wins and the more Grand Slams he claims, the more difficult it will be to slow down his momentum this season. 

Nadal was able to take care of business in his third round matches winning in straight sets. Nadal took care of Lukas Lacko: 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.

Nadal has won a mind-boggling 121 of 148 of his points on his first serve, as Nadal has won 82 percent of those points. Regardless of Djokovic being a significantly higher caliber player, there is no question with this kind of play Nadal has the ability to make a run at Djokovic. 

We Must Not Forget About Roger Federer 

Federer got the best of Ivo Karlovic in a 7-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory, as he has been putting together a promising showing at this 2012 Australian Open.

Fed goes into the fourth round playing solid, mistake-free tennis, as his third-round victory over Karlovic featured just 13 unforced errors through the entire match.

This type of tennis has shown that in spite of the hype surrounding Djokovic and Nadal, Fed is still a player that deserves significant recognition. It was just two seasons ago in 2010 that Federer was able to win the Australian Open for the fourth time in his career.

Alexandr Dolgopolov Has Been Lucky To Go Three Rounds

In each of Dolgopolov's matches at the 2012 Australian Open, the Ukraine talent has gone to five sets which includes the third-round loss to hometown talent Bernard Tomic.

Dolgopolov went to five sets with No. 198-ranked Greg Jones and No. 98-ranked Tobias Kamke.

It has been a run that has failed to impress, as the No. 13-ranked player in the world has shown he needs to pick up his game after being eliminated in the third round by Tomic.