Australian Open - - Nikolay Davydenko Cruising Impressively to His First Grand Slam Title

NO LONGER the invisible man, Nikolay Davydenko has emerged as Roger Federer's greatest Australian Open threat after parlaying his phenomenal form run into a flawless first week at Melbourne Park.

The Russian crushed Argentine Juan Monaco 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 yesterday to extend his winning streak to 12 matches, the longest undefeated sequence heading into the Open's fourth round since the mighty Federer in 2005.

Davydenko has dropped just 17 games all tournament, an average of less than two per set, to prove his stunning pre-Open form was anything but a fluke.

The sixth seed's unexpected surge includes his million-dollar triumph at the World Tour Finals in London in November - when he took down Federer, Rafael Nadal, Robin Soderling and then Juan Martin del Potro in the title match - and back-to-back victories over Federer and Nadal in Doha this month.

''I really hope I can hold this level every day and all this tournament, all these two weeks,'' Davydenko said. ''I'm feeling very good, confident now.''

Davydenko will take on Spanish ninth seed Fernando Verdasco tomorrow before a potential quarter-final against Federer, who became the first man ever to win 50 matches at the Open with his effortless 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 third-round victory over Albert Montanes.

Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic rolled on with with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 success against Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin.

The 2008 champion has enjoyed a spotlight-free progression to the last 16, more than happy for Davydenko and company to hog the headlines.

''He's playing the best tennis of his life,'' Djokovic said of Davydenko. ''He's on the roll and he's definitely one of the players that can win the title this year.''

Federer agreed it was shaping as an enthralling second week with all the big guns through. But the Swiss maestro warned that he and Nadal remained the players to beat.

''I definitely think we have guys now, as they get older as well, who are going to win bigger tournaments and have more experience,'' Federer said. '' … but that's not an easy thing to do because Rafa and myself are still around and making it extremely hard for guys to take home any slams because over five sets in two weeks, I think we know best how it works.''