Tennis: After nine years of ignoring the Australian Open Andre Agassi finally swallowed half a sleeping pill and caught a flight from California to Melbourne in 1995 and promptly won the tournament at the first time of asking. The love affair has been constant since.

"Not coming here until 1995 is still one of the biggest regrets of my life," he told a packed house in the Rod Laver Arena last night. "I'm sorry, it's my loss. I keep trying to make up for it."

Nobody now doubts that he has: having won the title four times he may just make it five a week tomorrow. In truth, however, with his 35th birthday in April, this seems more than a little unlikely, even though the hip injury that threatened to prevent him from appearing this time appears to have all but disappeared.

The gleam in his eyes after defeating his compatriot Taylor Dent was not merely a reflection from the stadium's floodlights.

Agassi sets himself high targets and none is higher at the moment than his probable quarter-final opponent Roger Federer. The Swiss world number one has won their last four meetings, including last year's US Open quarter-final when Agassi stretched him to five sets.

How tennis fans would relish a rematch next week.

First Federer must beat the rising young Paris-based Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, whom he defeated over four sets in their only previous meeting in the second round of the US Open last autumn, while Agassi has what may be a tricky first encounter with the in-form 22-year-old Swede Joachim Johansson.

Johansson, struggling with a leg injury, defeated Spain's Feliciano Lopez 13-11 in the fifth set after hitting a series of searing winners.

The Swede has a massive serve and, as with all Swedish players performing in Melbourne, will receive huge vocal support. Not that Agassi is unduly concerned by big servers - at least not since Pete Sampras retired.

Dent is the modern game's most compulsive volleyer but the American with an Australian father - Phil, who reached the Australian Open final in 1974 - has never learned the art of percentages. On several occasions he had Agassi in trouble in their third-round match only to let him off the hook due to outrageous over-ambition.

Crucially Dent had three set points at 6-5 on Agassi's serve to win the second set having forced Agassi to cover every inch of the court. But just at the moment a calm inner voice should have been whispering to him to do nothing fancy Dent went for broke and was duly snapped in half.

Steffi Graf, Agassi's wife, gazed adoringly at her man, lingering while he went through his customary kiss and bow routine with the crowd. Both know his playing days are coming to an end, yet he continues to defy both his years and logic.

Australia, perhaps more than any other country, will always remember him with huge affection.

Another man the crowds have always taken to is the Russian Marat Safin, who was beaten in last year's final by Federer. Safin is in Zen-like control of his emotions compared with his former days of racket-smashing and reached the last 16 here with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over the dangerous 20-year-old Croatian Mario Ancic.

The main moment of alarm for Safin watchers came when his right ankle slid away from him as he attempted to press towards the net but ended up flat on his face. The huge Russian called for the trainer and gulped down a couple of painkillers but later admitted the throb in his ankle helped take his mind off any difficulties he was having with Ancic.

"It kind of stopped me thinking about the way I was playing and took the pressure off because I was a little bit uptight."

Gordon Greenidge, the West Indies opening batsman, was said to be at his most dangerous when he was limping, and so it might be with Safin. Perhaps more significantly, compared with last year, the Russian is having an easier first week and this may help him in the semi-finals, when he is due to meet Federer again.

"I'm playing a little bit smarter, trying to stay focused and keeping the points short," said Safin, who is now being looked after by Federer's former coach Peter Lundgren.

Lundgren appears to have curbed Safin's propensity to get overly down on himself and waste too much emotional energy as a result. "I'm getting older," smiled Safin. "Soon I am going to be a quarter of a century in this world and that's a big number. I'm trying to keep calm. It's difficult, of course, and I have to live with my past, but it's okay; it wasn't so bad."

Federer's progress to the last 16 was largely untroubled although there were a few sharp intakes of breath when he dropped his opening service game against Finland's Jarkko Nieminen and a little later plonked a straightforward overhead into the net. They were isolated aberrations, however, and at 6-3, 5-2 the Finn was finished after a pulled stomach muscle forced him to withdraw.

MEN'S SINGLES: Third round: (1) Roger Federer (Swi) bt Jarkko Nieminen (Fin) 6-3 5-2 ret; Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp) bt (13) Tommy Robredo (Spa) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-1; (11) Joachim Johansson (Swe) bt (24) Feliciano Lopez (Spa) 6-3 3-6 5-7 7-6 (7-2) 13-11; (8) Andre Agassi (USA) bt (29) Taylor Dent (USA) 7-5 7-6 (7-3) 6-1; (4) Marat Safin (Rus) bt (28) Mario Ancic (Cro) 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-4; Olivier Rochus (Bel) bt Karol Beck (Svk) 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 6-4 6-2; (20) Dominik Hrbaty (Svk) bt (10) Gaston Gaudio (Arg) 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (8-10) 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 6-3; (30) Thomas Johansson (Swe) bt Kevin Kim (USA) 3-6 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-2.