Day 6 at the Australian Open

All your usual suspects got through to the fourth round on day 6, relatively unchallenged, but it was Maria Sharapova who had to work that little bit harder to get through. 

On a much cooler day in Melbourne Federer saw off Teymuraz Gabashvili while top seed Rafael Nadal beat the showman that is Gael Monfils.

Defending champion Victoria Azarenka brushed aside Yvonne Meusburger but Sharapova emerged from a a difficult second set to defeat Alize Cornet 6-1 7-6. 

Federer [6] beat Gabashvili 6-2 6-2 6-3

Federer reached the fourth round of the Australian Open for the 13th consecutive time in his career after a comprehensive win over Gabashvili. 

"I'm happy that from my side I'm winning my matches in straight sets.," said Federer.

"It's been different conditions every match: the heat first and the indoor match and now normal conditions today with a bit of wind.

"So it's just good to get through and get a good feel out there and make sure if you've got a chance to win your matches easier to do so."

Sharapova [3] beat Cornet [25] 6-1 7-6.

At first what appeared to be an easy match for Sharapova after only allowing her opponent to get one game on the board, proved entirely wrong in the second set.

The third seed struggled to find her rhythm and her serve in the second set. Cornet broke to lead 3-1 early on, but the Russian broke straight back and had match point at 5-3 before Cornet broke 5-5 and then 6-6 to set up a tie-break.

Sharapova's groundstrokes kept her in the match, and 29 minutes after her first match point she manufactured a second to clinch victory.

Nadal [1] beat Monfils [25] 6-1 6-2 6-3

Rafael Nadal put on an impressive display as he easily maneuvered past Gael Monfils to reach the fourth round.

Monfils only managed to get a few games on the board in the first and second sets, but he performed a little better in the third. although it didn't stop Nadal from cruising to victory.