Watched by Britain's Prince William, he dominated in the 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 rout. Federer, bidding for his 16th Grand Slam title and fourth Australian Open, will now play Spanish 31st-seed Albert Montanes. "I'm happy with the way I played today. I think the opponent was very different to the one I played in the first round," he said.
"I got off to a good start and kind of never looked back. I moved well and played some amazing shots. It was great." Defending champion Serena showed she was still the woman to beat, barely breaking a sweat as she crushed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-1.
-- Merciless Serena lays down the gauntlet
Much of the talk this year has been about the return of Belgian pair Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, but Williams made clear that anyone who wants to lift the trophy will have a fight on their hands. "Today I was better than my first round match, I was moving better, better energy. All round a lot better," she said.
Sister Venus, a seven-time Grand Slam champion but yet to win in Melbourne, was more workmanlike, grinding down Austrian Sybille Bammer 6-2, 7-5. Men's third seed Novak Djokovic overcame some first set wobbles to ease past Swiss Marco Chiudinelli 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 and set up a third round with Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin.
More impressive was Russian sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko, who is shaping as a serious title contender after extending his win streak to 11 matches. The 28-year-old has yet to win a Grand Slam and has never been in a final but his 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 disposal of Ukrainian Illya Marchenko served notice that his time may have come. For Ivanovic, it looks like her time has past.
The former finalist and world number one put in an error-riddled performance to crash out to Argentinean Gisela Dulko 6-7 (6/8), 7-5, 6-4. She has slipped down the rankings to be outside the top 20 for the first time in five years, and Thursday's flop was the sixth time in her past seven tournaments where she had failed to go beyond the second round. The attention is there because he has boasted an improved all-round game that he used to beat both Federer and Rafael Nadal in recent weeks.
In other matches, Danish fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki breezed past Germany's Julia Goerges 6-3, 6-1 while ninth-seeded Russian Vera Zvonereva had an easy 6-0, 6-3 win over Czech Iveta Benesova. Former finalist Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus advanced past David Ferrer 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-1 and will next face Australian Lleyton Hewitt. Ninth seed Fernando Verdasco and 10th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also progressed.
RESULTS OF DAY FOUR, COLLATED Collated results from day four of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park here Thursday (x denotes seeding):
MEN'S SINGLES (2ND ROUND) Nikolay Davydenko (RUS x6) bt Illya Marchenko (UKR) 6-3, 6-3, 6-0; Novak Djokovic (SRB x3) bt Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3; Nicolas Almagro (ESP x26) bt Benjamin Becker (GER) 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3; Denis Istomin (UZB) bt Michael Berrer (GER) 7-5, 6-3, 6-4; Juan Monaco (ARG x30) bt Michael Llodra (FRA) 3-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1, 6-3; Alejandro Falla (COL) bt Marcel Granollers (ESP) 6-4, 6-1, 6-3; Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) bt David Ferrer (ESP x17) 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-1; Mikhail Youzhny (RUS x20) bt Jan Hajek (CZE) 6-2, 6-1, 6-1; Lukasz Kubot (POL) bt Santiago Giraldo (COL) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1; Lleyton Hewitt (AUS x 22) bt Donald Young (USA) 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 6-1; Stefan Koubek (AUT) bt Ivan Dodig (CRO) 7-6 (7/4), 6-1, 6-2;Tommy Haas (GER x18) bt Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3; Fernando Verdasco (ESP x9) bt Ivan Sergeyev (UKR) 6-1, 6-2, 6-2; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x10) bt Taylor Dent (USA) 6-4, 6-3, 6-3; Albert Montanes (ESP x31) bt Stephane Robert (FRA) 4-6, 6-7 (7/3), 6-2, 6-3, 6-2; Roger Federer (SUI x1) bt Victor Hanescu (ROM) 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.
WOMEN'S SINGLES (2ND ROUND) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x10) bt Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) 6-0, 6-2; Gisela Dulko (ARG) bt Ana Ivanovic (SRB x20) 6-7 (6/8), 7-5, 6-4; Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP x32) bt Andrea Petkovic (GER) 6-1, 6-4; Victoria Azarenka (BLR x7) bt Stefanie Voegele (SUI) 6-4, 6-0; Li Na (CHN x16) bt Agnes Szavay (HUN) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2; Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x4) bt Julia Goerges (GER) 6-3, 6-1; Vera Zvonareva (RUS x9) bt Iveta Benesova (CZE) 6-0, 6-3; Shahar Peer (ISR x29) bt Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 6-1, 6-4; Tathiana Garbin (ITA) bt Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 6-0; Samantha Stosur (AUS x13) bt Kristina Barrois (GER) 7-5, 6-3; Francesca Schiavone (ITA x17) bt Julie Coin (FRA) 6-3, 6-4; Daniela Hantuchova (SVK x22) bt Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) 6-4, 6-1; Alberta Brianti (ITA) bt Sabine Lisicki (GER x21) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4; Venus Williams (USA x6) bt Sybille Bammer (AUT) 6-2, 7-5; Serena Williams (USA x1) Petra Kvitova (CZE) 6-2, 6-1; Casey Dellacqua (AUS) bt Karolina Sprem (CRO) 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (8/6).