Kuznetsova bounces 2010 finalist Henin

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Justine Henin's Australian Open run ended with a 6-4, 7-6 (8) loss to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round today, a year after the Belgian reached the final in her comeback to Grand Slam tennis.

It was Henin's first loss in a major to Kuznetsova, the former French Open and U.S. Open champion, and her worst run at a Grand Slam event since Wimbledon in 2005.

Henin was only weeks into a comeback from a career break when she lost to Serena Williams in last year's final, the third time in four appearances that she had reached the championship match at Melbourne. Her comeback season was derailed when she injured her right elbow at Wimbledon and didn't play again in 2010.

"There are some days that are harder than others for a lot of reasons, physical, mental, your adversary also, sometimes a style of game that is harder to manage, the pressure," No. 11 seed Henin said. "But obviously I wanted to play, I wanted to win. I wanted to go as far as possible."

No. 23 seed Kuznetsova will meet French Open champion No. 6 Francesca Schiavone in the fourth round. Schiavone defeated Romania's Monica Niculescu, 6-0, 7-6 (2).

Caroline Wozniacki, playing her first major with the No. 1 ranking, beat Dominika Cibulkova, 6-4, 6-3. Also advancing were No. 8 Victoria Azarenka (6-3, 6-3 over Chanelle Scheepers), No. 9 Li Na (6-2, 6-1 over Barbora Zahlavova Strycova) and No. 14 Maria Sharapova (4-6, 6-4, 6-4 over Julia Goerges).

Defending men's champion Roger Federer beat Xavier Malisse 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 in the third round to earn his 57th career win at the Australian Open, surpassing Stefan Edberg's Open Era record.

"It's very nice, but he still stays my idol," said Federer, a 16-time Grand Slam winner. He will next play Tommy Robredo, a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 winner over Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky.

No. 3 Novak Djokovic's third-round match lasted only one set -- the 2008 champion was leading 6-2 when his Davis Cup-winning teammate Viktor Troicki retired with an abdominal strain.

Djokovic will play No. 14 Nicolas Almagro, who beat No. 17 Ivan Ljubicic, 6-4, 7-6 (8), 6-3.

Andy Roddick was having trouble countering Robin Haase in the first set before his powerful serve kicked in. Roddick finished with 32 aces in a 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-2 win. No. 6 Tomas Berdych beat Richard Gasquet, 6-2, 7-6 (3), 6-2.

Henin put up quite a fight against Kuznetsova, despite the constant pain in her elbow.

Kuznetsova twice had chances to serve out the match, but Henin broke her both times. In a fluctuating tiebreaker, Kuznetsova was ahead 6-4 before Henin sent a service return skidding down the line and took the next point. She netted a forehand to give Kuznetsova another match point at 8-7 but again hit a powerful forehand service return winner.

Henin finally lost when she sent a forehand wide, giving Kuznetsova only her third win in 19 head-to-head meetings dating to 2003. Henin had nine double faults and 41 unforced errors in an uncharacteristically sloppy performance.