Classy Federer sets the agenda

MELBOURNE, Jan 17 (Reuters) Gliding and waltzing around court with effortless ease, Roger Federer put tennis back under the spotlight at the Australian Open today.

On-court action during the opening two days of the grand slam had been overshadowed by brawling fans and the sweltering weather conditions.

Federer set the agenda today as his pursuit of a 10th grand slam title gathered pace with a 6-2 6-3 6-2 win over Swedish doubles exponent Jonas Bjorkman.

The defending champion swatted the ball away to seal victory in 95 minutes and extend his perfect record to 5-0 against a player who has never managed to win a set off the Swiss maestro.

While Federer barely broke sweat during the match, WTA chairman Larry Scott said the tournament's extreme heat policy will need to be reviewed after Tuesday's sizzling temperatures at Melbourne Park caused distress to several players.

''Player health and wellbeing is our top priority and I was very concerned about the conditions yesterday and the potential risks to our players,'' Scott told reporters after women's top seed Maria Sharapova visibly struggled to last the distance during her first-round match.

''What happened yesterday is going to cause us to take another look at the heat policy.'' Sharapova's Russian compatriots Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova were in no mood to hang around in the humid conditions.

Third seed Kuznetsova romped past Australian wildcard Monique Adamczak 6-2 6-1 and Petrova was equally emphatic in her 6-1 6-2 win over Argentine Gisela Dulko.

They were joined in the third round by in-form Serbian 11th seed Jelena Jankovic, a 6-2 6-2 winner over Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain.

With yesterday's draining conditions having caused the suspension of many matches, seeds Patty Schnyder, Dinara Safina and Daniela Hantuchova were all relieved to win their delayed first-round matches in straight sets.

Serbian 14th seed Novak Djokovic's run towards a possible fourth-round showdown against Federer gathered momentum when he hurtled past Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-2 7-5 6-1.

REUTERS AY BD1133