Clijsters smoothly through, but Shaughnessy knocked out

Fourth seed Kim Clijsters motored into the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday, ruthlessly ending wildcard Cindy Watson's dreams 6-1, 6-2 at Melbourne Park.

But American 10th seed Meghann Shaughnessy was dumped out, beaten 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 by unseeded German Marlene Weingartner.

In the men's field, in-form Roger Federer cruised into the fourth round with a 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 win over German Rainer Schuettler.

Federer has not dropped a set all tournament and is now one of the favourites for the title after winning a lead-up event in Sydney last week.

Chile's former world number one Marcelo Rios reached the fourth round for the first time in four years when he downed Spaniard Alberto Martin 6-4, 6-3, 7-6.

Runner-up here in 1998, 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.

Women's top seed Jennifer Capriati takes on Greece's Eleni Daniilidou later on Saturday while men's eighth seed Pete Sampras faces Nicolas Escude in the night session.

Clijsters's win could have been even more emphatic for the Belgian - her serve was at times shaky and she committed 24 unforced errors to Watson's 18.

BRUSHED ASIDE

But Clijsters still had plenty in reserve as she brushed aside Australian Watson in a mere 47 minutes on the Vodafone Arena court.

Her powerful groundstrokes were too much for her opponent, who fell in the first round in her only other Australian Open main draw appearance last year.

Clijsters will face either 24th seed Ai Sugiyama of Japan or Slovakian Janette Husarova in the fourth round.

She would then most likely face compatriot and sixth seed Justine Henin in the quarter-finals.

Shaughnessy required courtside treatment for a back complaint during her match.

She fought on but her movement was hampered. Weingartner, who had never before made it past the third round of a grand slam event, played with her left thigh heavily strapped in what at times looked like a battle of the walking wounded.

Weingartner will play either seventh seed Amelie Mauresmo of France or Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn in the fourth round.

Federer was pushed all the way by Schuettler in their match but was able to raise his game on the big points to complete a straight sets win.

He plays either Tommy Haas or Todd Martin for a place in the quarter-finals.