After a day where upsets ruled the results, Roger Federer pulled his own on Friday as he defeated 10th seeded Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.  Albeit, it was an upset only in the sense that the Swiss came into Melbourne seeded 17th but given the facts surrounding the seeding and his history against the Czech, it was hardly a shocking outcome.

Federer executed like a player who has his eye on another grand slam title, imposing his will with precise groundstrokes while keeping his errors minimal. The 35-year old struck 40 winners to just 17 unforced errors and won all but two points on his first serve. It was a dominating performance against a quality opponent in a match that took just 90 minutes to complete.

Federer brought the Rod Laver arena crowd to its feet with vintage backhand winners that reminded them of why he is considered one of the greatest players to ever pick up a racket. He never faced a break point in the nearly perfect performance.

The 17-time grand slam champion was obviously pleased after the match and was even surprised at his own performance, “It's just crazy how quick I got out of the blocks,” Federer said. “What a difference it was in the feeling afterward. I did surprise myself. From the baseline, honestly, I felt worlds better than in the first couple of rounds.” He now holds a 17-5 head-to-head record against Berdych.

Clearly, Federer is better than his current seeding of number 17. However, due to his absence from the second half of the 2016 season, the veteran watched his ranking fall. And with more points to defend at the beginning of the season, don’t expect his ranking to spike back immediately. But on the flipside, with no points to defend after Wimbledon, he will have a tremendous opportunity to climb back into the more familiar territory by season’s end.

Federer continues his gauntlet in Melbourne against 5th seeded Kei Nishikori in the fourth round. Nishikori disposed of Lukas Lacko 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Federer acknowledged that he will have his work cut out for him against the Japanese star, “Guess I'm ready. There's no turning back,” he said. “He's … maybe the best backhand in the business right now. Really got my work cut out for me.”

In the women’s draw, it was 7th seeded Garbine Muguruza advancing in impressive fashion with a 6-4, 6-2 win against Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia. The Spaniard joins Venus Williams who defeated Ying-Ying Duan 6-1 6-0 in late action on Friday.