A number of high seeds played their third-round matches in what would prove to be a vital day for the men’s side of the draw. The results would not only determine who would progress through to the second week but would go some way in determining potential quarterfinal and semifinal matchups. With seeds Richard Gasquet and Jerzy Janowicz dropping on Friday, each respective sides of the draw were poised to open up. And while the matches weren’t as much intriguing as they were indications of where players stood in the build up to the second week, there was still a great deal of interest in each.

Appearing on Rod Laver Arena was world No. 6 and crowd favorite Roger Federer, who took on Teymuraz Gabashvili. After eliminating Spain’s Fernando Verdasco in a five-set epic that lasted three and a half hours, Gabashvili was not expected to have enough fuel in the tank to challenge the sixth seed. Federer’s total court time in rounds one and two equaled the time of Gabashvili’s round two match.

However, nobody told the 79th-ranked Russian, who came out fully prepared to attempt to hit Federer off the court. The Swiss maestro blocked and batted the big-hitting Russian’s groundstrokes back and found that, while Gabashvili’s first shot was venomous, his second shot was less so. Combining that with Federer’s discipline, the match became a training drill of sorts with the world No. 6 hitting 35 winners to just 18 unforced errors in a 6-2 6-2 6-3 win. Although Gabashvili’s heavy hitting produced 27 winners at times, testing out Federer’s defense, he cancelled those out with 33 unforced errors.

It was a very measured performance by Federer as he found very little resistance past Gabashvili’s initial burst. And it became even more routine with Gabashvili struggling to hit a deep ball, handing Federer a plethora of opportunities to hit winners or unreturnable ground strokes.

Despite not registering a lot of time in match play with three relatively routine straight-sets wins, Federer was content with the time he’s spent on court. “I'm happy that from my side I'm winning my matches in straight sets,” the refreshed Swiss star remarked. “It's been different conditions every match: the heat first and the indoor match and now normal conditions today with a bit of wind.  So it's just good to get through and get a good feel out there and make sure if you've got a chance to win your matches more easily to do so.”

But Federer was impressed with the game that Gabashvili brought to the round three clash. “I think he actually did a very good job of playing offensive tennis,” Federer said. “Clearly you get carried away a bit or you play over your level at times, but I think he did actually a good job for a while in each set. He actually hung around in the beginning of each set. He didn't like get broken first up, so he was tough.”

In the last match on Hisense Arena in the day session, a particularly intriguing third-round match pitted fourth seed Andy Murray against Spain’s likable 26th seed Feliciano Lopez. All signs pointed to a fairly close match with Andy Murray still in his returning stage from back surgery after last year’s US Open, while Lopez felt eager to make a statement and justify his presence in the world’s top 30.

Unfortunately for the crowd, the game didn’t particularly live up to expectations with the ever-present Scot’s consistency coming to the fore and canceling out Lopez’s flare. After being described as “Deliciano” again by Murray’s mother Judy prior to the round three clash, Lopez would have liked to have left a more meaningful impact on the Murray family. But he was undone by 44 unforced errors.

When meeting a member of the world’s top four, opportunities for the lower-ranked player are few and far between, and this was evident with Lopez having only one break point in the whole match. Despite the Spaniard registering a solid performance, the battle was lost purely on the disparity of winners and unforced errors. Lopez also failed to make inroads on Murray’s service games, only winning 14% of points on Murray’s first serve. Despite facing a tiebreak in the first set, Murray was otherwise never particularly challenged, winning the match 7-6 6-4 6-2.

When asked about his back, he was fairly subdued. “It’s pretty good so far. I mean, I've recovered well after the matches,” Murray said. “From time to time a bit of stiffness and soreness, but for the most part it's been good.”

And he was pleased with how he handled his first meeting with a top-30 player since losing to Stanislas Wawrinka at the US Open in September. “Today was a big step up for me,” Murray admitted. “Feliciano is a top-30 player. He's a tricky opponent to play. I know I have a good record against him, but it doesn't change the fact he's not an easy guy to play against. Very different type of opponent to what you normally face.  So it was a good test for me, and I did well.”

In the match of the day, promising Bulgarian 22nd seed Grigor Dimitrov took on Canada’s 11th-ranked Milos Raonic in front of a packed Margaret Court Arena. Unable to fulfil his potential until now, having only registered one career title, Dimitrov has been penned in as a future multiple-Slam winner. This is the first match in which he’s indicated that he can eventually achieve those predicted accolades. In an extremely tidy first set from the Bulgarian, Dimitrov hit 11 winners to just three unforced errors.

This set the tone for the match as he racked up just 13 unforced errors in the whole match to Raonic’s 39 to seal his entry into the fourth round of a major for the first time in his career. While Dimitrov’s game was tidy, he was not as conservative as the statistics suggest, often unleashing on both wings. Judging by the control in Dimitrov’s game and how disciplined he was in his shot-making, it was clear that the combination he formed with new coach Roger Rasheed was effective. After a tense fourth set, Dimitrov emerged the victor with a 6-3 3-6 6-4 7-6 win.

He was very pleased with how his partnership with Rasheed was progressing. “We know each other pretty well. But there’s still a lot to come and in a way we try to go one day at a time,” Dimitrov said. “I think the one thing that is really positive is that with him every day is 100%. There is never more, never less.  So once you start having a routine like this, everything gets into place.”

But despite his breakthrough win, Dimitrov was remaining grounded. “I think it's a great stepping stone for me to get into that second week that I keep talking about,” the 22-year-old reflected. “But I have practiced a lot. I have done a lot of homework. So, to me, in a way it's a bit expected. So I feel really good coming into the second week, and I’m just taking one match at a time.”