Australian Open 2015: Day 5 Results, Highlights and Scores Recap from Melbourne
Four-time winner Roger Federer crashed out of the Australian Open at the third-round stage on Friday as he was downed in four sets by unseeded Italian Andreas Seppi.
It is the first time Federer has failed to reach at least the semi-finals at the tournament since 2003, but he simply did not have enough despite coming into the tournament in decent form.
Andy Murray made relatively easy work of his third-round opponent on Friday, defeating Joao Sousa in three sets despite struggling in the third. The Scot moves into the last 16 to face 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov.
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Elsewhere, Maria Sharapova was in destructive mood as she advanced in the women's draw with Rafael Nadal winning his third round match with similar ease.
Here's a look at all the results from Day 5:
| Winner | Score | Loser |
| Andreas Seppi | 6-4 7-6(5) 4-6 7-6(5) | (2) Roger Federer |
| (3) Rafael Nadal | 6-1 6-0 7-5 | Dudi Sela |
| (7) Tomas Berdych | 6-4 6-3 6-4 | Viktor Troicki |
| Malek Jaziri | 4-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-3 | Nick Kyrgios |
| (6) Andy Murray | 6-1 6-1 7-5 | Joao Sousa |
| Bernard Tomic | 6-4 7-6(8) 6-3 | Sam Groth |
| (14) Kevin Anderson | 6-4 7-6(3) 7-6(6) | (24) Richard Gasquet |
| (10) Grigor Dimitrov | 4-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-3 | Marcos Baghdatis |
| Winner | Score | Loser |
| (7) Eugenie Bouchard | 7-5 6-0 | Caroline Garcia |
| (2) Maria Sharapova | 6-1 6-1 | (31) Zarina Diyas |
| (10) Ekaterina Makarova | 6-4 6-4 | (22) Karolina Pliskova |
| (3) Simona Halep | 6-4 7-5 | Bethanie Mattek-Sands |
| Yanina Wickmayer | 4-6 6-4 6-3 | (14) Sara Errani |
| (21) Shuai Peng | 7-6(7) 6-3 | Yaroslava Shvedova |
Federer Crashes Out
Federer struggled in his previous match in the second round against Simone Bolelli and there was to be no return to his inimitable best against Seppi on Friday.
The 33-year-old Swiss dropped the opening set 6-4 as his opponent forced long rallies to the disadvantage of the 17-time Grand Slam winner.
At one set down, Federer was still the favourite for the match but a tiebreak loss to concede the second saw an upset looming, per the Australian Open:
Federer took the third 6-4 to indicate signs of a comeback and managed to force a second tiebreak when two points from defeat in the 10th game of the fourth set.
The No. 2 seed then had two serves at 5-4 in the tiebreak but Seppi—the loser in the pair's 10 previous meetings—claimed them both to move to match point.
He then produced an absolutely stunning forehand pass on the move to claim victory, a shot worthy of sealing such an upset, per beIN Sports' Tancredi Palmeri:
It is the Swiss legend's earliest departure at the Melbourne Grand Slam since 2000—with much having changed since then, per Eurosport—and further brings into question whether he will ever add to his Grand Slam haul; his last major victory coming at Wimbledon in 2012:
Seppi hailed the victory as one of his best ever matches, per BBC Sport, and rightly so with the Italian likely to take huge confidence into the last 16.
Murray Cruises Through
Murray continued his serene progress in Melbourne on Friday by taking out Sousa with relative ease, winning the opening two sets 6-1 before making fairly heavy work of closing out the match.
The sixth-seeded Brit started well, breaking his Portuguese opponent in the fourth game with some terrific backhands and taking the first set with consummate ease, per BBC Tennis:
It was a similar story in the second and the Scot looked to be moving toward a rapid, crushing victory, but a late rally from Sousa in the third set prolonged the encounter.
Despite Murray taking an early break in set three, he handed it back soon after with some loose play—including a double fault—and then failed to close out the contest when he relinquished two match points at 5-4.
However, he quashed any thoughts of an unlikely Sousa comeback two games later and said afterwards he is still feeling fresh, per BBC Sport:
"I think today was my longest match but I feel pretty good. Normally towards the latter stages of this event, you tend to play more matches in the evenings, but so far I played three matches pretty much in the heat of the day. Thankfully they've not been too long and it hasn't taken too much out of me.
"
With Federer out, Murray has a decent chance of going a long way in Melbourne this year, per sports writer Graham Ruthven:
However, he will face a significant challenge next up against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov who moved through to the last 16 courtesy of a five-set victory over Marcos Baghdatis.
Nadal, Sharapova Ease into Next Round
Nadal has had his struggles so far in the 2015 Australian Open but motored through his third round match, beating Israel's Dudi Sela in straight sets.
He won the opening set 6-1 and was even more frugal in the second, winning 6-0, as the Spaniard looked to make quick work of his opponent.
However, Sela finally put up some resistance in the third set, exchanging service games with Nadal and threatening to take a break.
At 6-5, though, Nadal pounced, pummelling several of his trademark forehands at his opponent and taking the break at the crucial time to win the match, illustrating some of his tremendous drive in the post-match interview, per The Guardian's Jacob Steinberg:
For Sharapova in the women's draw, it was similarly easy. After a scare in the previous round, the Russian pummelled Zarina Diyas, losing just two games to reach the last 16 where she will face China's Peng Shuai.
The second seed looked to be back to her best against Diyas and she will hope to build some momentum going into the second week as she pursues a second Melbourne title.
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