Andy Murray strolls into last 16, Baltacha bows out

Andy Murray's confident progress in the Australian Open continued as he marched into the last 16 with another straight sets victory, this time over Frenchman Florent Serra.

The Scot ran out 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 winner in just under two hours. Murray has yet to lose a set in the three games he has won so far and has dropped just 22 games in the nine sets he has played. However his progress was not quite as serene as it had been in the two earlier rounds.

Murray raced to a 3-0 lead in the first set, but Serra broke his serve to level the scores. Murray then broke the Frenchman for a second time only to drop his serve again immediately afterwards. But the Scot made no mistakes after a third break and took the set 7-5.

After that minor blip Murray went up a gear and pulverised the Frenchman in the second set, winning it 6-1.

During the third set Murray, who had already produced some outstanding winners, came up with an audacious backhand chip that delighted the crowd - and the No 5 seed entertained them some more by balancing a racket on his fingertip during a break in proceedings as Serra was treated for a cut on his arm. Murray turned on the style once again as he sealed the match with a delicate drop shot.

After this latest win Murray faces American John Isner, who beat the dangerous 12th seed Gail Monfils in four sets. He can overcome Isner Murray's next opponent is likely to be Rafael Nadal in the quarter finals.

Juan Martin del Potro and Andy Roddick also booked their places in the last 16 with wins on Friday.

Britain's other remaining singles hope Elena Baltacha failed to progress as she was seen off by world number two Dinara Safina in less than an hour. Baltacha showed a brief glimpse of fight as she broke Safina in the first set, but ended up losing it 6-2 and the Russian wrapped things up in double-quick fashion with a 6-1 win in the second set.

Justine Henin's comeback continued as she won through to the fourth round with a win over Alisa Kleybanova to follow up her defeat of fifth seed Elena Dementieva in the previous round. ·