Federer shock loser at Australian Open

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns the ball during the third round match of men's singles against Andreas Seppi of Italy at the 2015 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 23, 2015. Seppi won 3-1. [Xu Yanyan/Xinhua]

Andreas Seppi pulled off a remarkable four set win over Roger Federer on Friday to end Federer's perfect record of making the Australian Open fourth round.

Seppi had only taken one set off the 17-time Grand Slam champion in their ten previous matches but that comprehensive record meant little as the Italian worked his way to a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) victory.

Federer admitted after the match he had won the wrong points after world No.2 finished with more total points than Seppi.

Seppi took the last three points of a tight fourth-set tiebreaker as an outstanding passing shot eliminated the four-time Australian Open champion at the third round for the first time in his 14 stints at Melbourne Park.

Having reached match point with a crosscourt forehand that caught the line, Seppi served for the biggest win of his career.

Federer attacked the net and Seppi, seemingly out of position, took a wild attempt at passing Federer on the forehand side.

"I didn't think I hit the ball. It looked like a winner (by Federer)," said Seppi in the post-match interview.

Seppi played Federer deep and wide all match and forced him into long rallies that were often ended by a Federer unforced error.

Earlier, Seppi pressured the Federer second serve and took 60 per cent of those points to swamp the world No. 2 and grab a two-set lead.

After trailing 4-1 in the second-set tiebreak, Seppi won six of the next seven with exquisite winners for which even a champion like Federer had no answer.

A better Federer came out in the third set, and turned the tables with an early break that he maintained to push the match into a fourth.

Federer missed an opportunity to break in the first game of the fourth, the only time either threatened each other's serve.

Again, Federer led in the tiebreak, this time serving at 5-4, and waited for his opponent to make a mistake.

Seppi didn't and will now play an unseeded opponent in Nick Kyrgios, the Australian who defeated Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon last year.

  Andreas Seppi of Italy cheers after winning the third round match of men's singles against Roger Federer of Switzerland at the 2015 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 23, 2015. Seppi won 3-1. [Xu Yanyan/Xinhua]

Marcos Baghdatis almost pulled off an upset of his own by taking 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov to five sets.

The 2006 finalist spent much of 2014 on the second-grade Challenger circuit but, with Melbourne's large Greek and Cypriot population cheering him on every point, the world No. 84 troubled a shaky Dimitrov.

His still-impressive Melbourne Park record dropped to 15-10 after he lost 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in just under three-and-a-half hours.

The sixth and seventh seeds, Scotland's Andy Murray and the Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych, will join Dimitrov in the fourth round after easy straight-sets win.

In the women's draw, Caroline Garcia butchered an opportunity to defeat Eugenie Bouchard before the No. 7 seed woke up and demolished her French opponent

Garcia had beaten the Canadian at their only meeting last year and played best in the opening games.

Three times in the first set, Garcia failed to consolidate a break, including during a marathon 24-point game.

Garcia's serving capability - averaging 173-kilometers per hour on the first serve - was all but cancelled out with less than half of her first serves landing in.

Eventually, Bouchard found her groove, attacked Garcia's second serves, controlled all the play and won the final eight games to progress to the fourth round 7-5 6-0.

China's Peng Shuai came back from a break down, then 4-1 down in tiebreak to win 7-6 (9-7), 6-3.

As Shvedova served for the set at 7-6, Peng defended on her forehand side multiple times before a down-the-line backhand saved the point.

After being broken at 3-3 in the second, Shvedova took an extended break off court but it did nothing to arrest the Peng's momentum.

Peng missed two opportunities win the match on Shvedova's serve but when presented with a third, Peng triumphed with a spectacular run-down.

From meters behind the baseline, Peng sprinted crosscourt to reach a Shvedova drop shot, but was so late on the ball, her only choice was a backhand whip crosscourt, superbly executed.

Simona Halep, who made the quarter-finals here last year before a French Open final and Wimbledon semi-final, confirmed she will feature high in the second week with a smooth 6-4, 7-5 win over Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns the ball during his men's singles third round match against Andreas Seppi of Italy at the Australian Open tournament in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 23, 2015. Federer lost 1-3. [Bai Xue/Xinhua]  Andreas Seppi of Italy returns the ball during the third round match of men's singles against Roger Federer of Switzerland at the 2015 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 23, 2015. Seppi won 3-1. [Xu Yanyan/Xinhua]Roger Federer of Switzerland serves during his men's singles third round match against Andreas Seppi of Italy at the Australian Open tournament in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 23, 2015. Federer lost 1-3. [Bai Xue/Xinhua]

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