Roger Federer was forced to work harder than anybody could have predicted as he eliminated spirited qualifier Takeo Suzuki to move into the third round of the Australian Open.

Many were freely predicting Federer would take little more than an hour to dispatch a 28-year-old qualifier ranked 203 in the world, instead he had to call on some resolve to down the never-say-die Japanese 6-3 6-4 6-4 in 113 minutes.

Suzuki kept the world number one on court for over two hours and won plenty applause from the crowd, having given them value they would not have been expecting.

"I had to play a good match to win," Federer said on court after the match.

"Thanks to the way Takeo Suzuki played tonight, it was very entertaining and I am already looking forward to the next time I play him."

While Federer won three of the four grand slam tournaments last year, Suzuki's highlight of 2004 was winning a challenger in Brazil.

The first-round win here was just the second grand slam match win of his career and he was even unseeded for the qualifying tournament, which he entered on the back of a second-round loss at a challenger in New Caledonia.

At no stage of his career had he been able to break into double figures in the ATP rankings.

The commercial incentives of the domestic Japanese circuit compared to the slim pickings of ATP challengers explain why a player who can stretch one of the all time greats can be ranked as low as 203 - he rarely travels.

The tone of the match was set early, with Suzuki rushing the net at every opportunity, hoping against hope that Federer would not find a passing shot.

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