LEAD: Federer to hit the practice courts after unexpected walkover

By Bill Scott Jan 18, 2012, 6:44 GMT

Melbourne - Third seed Roger Federer received a walkover into the third round of the Australian open after German opponent Andreas Beck withdrew prior to their match with a lower back problem on Wednesday.

The match would have been the first since 2004 on a court other than the showcase Rod Laver arena for four-time tournament winner Federer, with the pair having been scheduled on the Hisense arena in a surprise decision by organisers.

The walkover was the fourth for Federer against a German opponent after Tommy Haas in 2007 and 2008 and Philipp Kohlschreiber in 2010.

Federer will wait for a winner from the match between Croatian Ivo Karlovic and Carlos Berlocq.

'I would have loved to play,' said the Swiss. 'I was ready to go. I'll just take it easy this afternoon and come out hit intensely tomorrow, and then I'll be ready for the next match.'

Federer, a friend and occasional practice partner with the 93rd-ranked German, said Beck explained his predicament in the locker room.

'He'd had a lot painkillers and pain during the last match and he didn't want to risk it early in the season, best of five sets against me. There was nothing he could have done, even though he would love to play against me.

'I guess it's the only smart decision for him to take.'

Second seed Rafael Nadal showed no sign of the mystery knee problem which bothered him before the first round, with the Spaniard beating German veteran Tommy Haas for the fifth time since 2006, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych spoiled the birthday for Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-1, 6-0, 7-6 (7-4) while Alejandro Falla of Colombia scored an upset against eighth seed Mardy Fish 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).

The American was not pleased by Falla's cramping issues which turned the third set into a sideshow. 'I didn't play great, the conditions were about as ideal for me as I would have liked as far as the second and third sets, the heat and stuff. 'But it just didn't work out he played good when he needed to. The third set was pretty important knowing that he was struggling - or maybe not. Maybe that was a ploy. I don't know.

'It didn't seem like he was having too much trouble, so it was a good tactic on his part.'

Argentine Juan Del Potro, seeded 11th, beat Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.

Last year's women's finalists lost just five games between them as champion Kim Clijsters and runner-up Li Na powered into the third round.

Clijsters, seeded 11th and coming back from six months of injury problems in 2011 in which she managed to play in just eight events, crushed Stephanie Foretz Gacon of France, 6-0, 6-1 while fifth seed Li was almost as ruthless in a 6-2, 6-2 defeat of Australian Olivia Rogowska.

'I didn't really have that rhythm that I would have liked to have,' said Clijsters. 'I was hitting the ball well, I could keep her under pressure and didn't let her play her game.'

Clijsters needed just 47 minutes for victory while Li went through in 62.

'The score looked but some games we were fighting a lot,' said French Open champion Li, 29. 'She's young and needs more experience, while I have a lot of experience on the court.'

Serb 13th seed Jelena Jankovic bet Chang Kai-Chen 6-4, 6-2 and Czech Iveta Benesova knocked out China's 16th seed Peng Shuai 6-2, 6-4.