MELBOURNE, Jan 18: Tim Henman downed Greg Rusedski 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-3 in the “Battle of Britain” on Friday to book his place in the last 16 of the Australian Open.

Henman, at number six the highest remaining men’s seed, was joined in round four by women’s second seed Venus Williams who overcame a worrying knee injury and a tenacious Daniela Hantuchova to advance 3-6 6-0 6-4.

Women’s third seed and three times champion Martina Hingis had things much more her own way, though, losing just one game as she coasted past Germany’s Barbara Rittner 6-1 6-0.

Swedish doubles specialist Jonas Bjorkman knocked out men’s 12th seed Guillermo Canas 6-3 6-2 6-4 and now faces Henman for a place in the quarter-finals.

Henman was delighted with his performance in a thrilling night match with Rusedski - this is the third consecutive year he has reached the fourth round but he has never gone further.

“It was not the easiest match to play and I thought I played really, really well,” Henman said. “It was a difficult match for lots of reasons .. you know two guys from the same country, but I think I dealt with that really well.

“We both gave it our best and fortunately it went my way. I felt it was pretty good quality tennis.” The match was a first between two Britons at the Australian Open since the sport turned professional in 1968 and was full of passion and drama.

Henman displayed his superior finesse and touch to combat Rusedski’s raw power and extended his winning record against his Canadian-born compatriot to 5-2.

Williams, suffering from tendinitis and with her left knee taped, recovered from a set down to keep on track for her first Australian singles crown.

The hot favourite to win in Melbourne, Williams showed signs of discomfort from the tendinitis which flared before her second round match.

Williams plays Magdalena Maleeva in the fourth round after the Bulgarian 13th seed beat American Lisa Raymond 7-5 6-1.

Hingis raced to victory in just 46 minutes as she outran and outplayed her German opponent on the Rod Laver centre court.

Her opponent in the fourth round is Amanda Coetzer after South African, twice a semifinalist here, beat 17th seed Barbara Schett 6-3 6-3.

Four times champion Monica Seles also made it through, battling past Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-4 6-4.

In the men’s field, adopted Australian Taylor Dent’s run came to an end as he lost to Adrian Voinea 3-6 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-3. American Dent is the son of former Australian player Phil Dent.

Czech Jiri Novak booked his fourth round spot by beating Spain’s Francisco Clavet 6-3 6-4 6-1 but Yevgeny Kafelnikov’s conqueror Alex Kim fell to a fellow qualifier, Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, 6-2 6-2 6-3.

The man who beat Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic also failed as Jerome Golmard lost to Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia 6-3 6-1 6-7 (6-8) 7-5.

RESULTS