Unpredictable Rios conquers Martin

Unpredictable former world number one Marcelo Rios reached the Australian Open fourth round for the first time in four years when he downed Spaniard Alberto Martin 6-4 6-3 7-6 in an unusual match on Saturday.

Rios is unseeded after struggling with injuries last year but completely dominated the first two sets against Martin, who shocked ailing world number one Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in the first round.

The Chilean's touch was almost perfect as he scored points across all parts of the court with the kind of form that took him to the Australian Open final in 1998. Rios had not won another match in Melbourne until this year.

In an extraordinary third set, Rios at times looked disinterested but overcame an early break of serve as the set ebbed and flowed towards a tie-breaker.

A bizarre moment came in the 11th game of the set when Rios appeared to lose sight of a Martin serve and turned his back on the ball. He hung his racquet out to the side and, facing the back of the court, somehow managed to block the ball back over the net and win the point.

Martin held serve to lead 6-5 and looked likely to gain a vital service break when he was up 0-40. But Rios again fought back to hold serve and force the tie-breaker, which he won 7-3.

Rios will play either 23rd seed Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador or Gaston Gaudio of Argentina in the fourth round.

Also read:
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- Venus, Seles survive scares to advance at Open
- Venus says she's bored by tennis
- Roddick hobbles out; Sampras, Capriati move on

Images from the Australian Open:
Day 5 | Day 4 | Day 3 | Day 2 | Day 1