They still pack 1-2 punch

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Roger raises the bar, and then Rafa tries to vault over it the next day.

It’s a pattern worth chronicling at the Australian Open. Top-seeded Roger Federer of Switzerland showed no signs of last week’s stomach virus in his opener, beating Diego Hartfield of Argentina, 6-0, 6-3, 6-0, in 1 hour 14 minutes on Tuesday.

Then second-seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain came out today and gave up one more game, needing 20 more minutes against Florent Serra of France in the second round, winning, 6-0, 6-2, 6-2.

“I saw last four games in the match,” Nadal said of Federer. “The result says a lot. Well, I can’t say too much because in the last four or three games when you are winning 6-0, 6-3, 6-0, it’s tough to say anything, no?”

Two American men exited on Day 3 in the second round, qualifier Sam Warburg and wild card Jesse Levine.

The most impressive American second-round performance? A toss-up between Mardy Fish and defending champion Serena Williams.

Fish beat No. 11 Tommy Robredo of Spain, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, at Vodafone Arena and the seventh-seeded Williams followed up on the same court, defeating Meng Yuan of China, 6-3, 6-1.

Day 4 highlights

Federer vs. the French magician Fabrice Santoro in the second round.

Santoro is appearing in his 62nd major, eclipsing Andre Agassi’s Open-era record of 61. He has also played in 38 consecutive Grand Slam events.

The day’s play begins at 4 p.m. PST.

Sky is the limit

Poetry-writing Evgenia Linetskaya, once a lost-looking soul, appeared happier even though the 21-year-old who now represents Israel went out in the first round Tuesday against Anne Kremer, 7-6 (8), 6-0.

In her case, the score, while it mattered, was hardly the primary issue. This was a rare Grand Slam appearance since the summer of 2005 when her father was arrested at a tournament in Carlsbad on suspicion of battery after she was taken to the hospital for treatment.

He was suspended from the WTA Tour for two years and Linetskaya’s then coach, Joe Giuliano, was barred for life. His whereabouts remain unknown and Linetskaya said she has not had any contact with him since the Carlsbad incident.

But the oft-injured Linetskaya has mended her relationship with her father. When she fulfilled a childhood dream, moving from Russia to Israel, her parents followed. She spoke with four reporters in a small interview room after the loss, saying she had felt there were a “lot of negative things” connected with the sport.

“It was really hard for me and first I couldn’t really get it right and I thinking it was my fault,” she said. “Then life was going on and new things were coming up. I just looked around and saw that life is beautiful.”

Colleagues on the tour have been welcoming in Melbourne.

“A lot of girls are like, ‘Ah, finally, we see you.’ Normal questions,” Linetskaya said. “They didn’t see me for a long time, so they wondered how I was.”

Quote of the day

“Who cares? I feel like I own the tournament,” said 33-year-old American Vince Spadea, above, on his next opponent, after he beat Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, 2-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3, in the first round.

lisa.dillman@latimes.com