The American saw four set points come and go at 5-4, but refused to concede defeat.
Kerber saved two set points but then produced a double-fault to give it away.
Serving at 4-5 in the second set, she erased three set points and held.
Sharapova had 57 unforced errors, including 13 double-faults, and overcame three set points in the second set.
Williams saved two set points at 5-4 but netted a backhand to hand the Slovenian the first set.
But Monaco squandered two set points on his opponent's serve and five games in a row gave Djokovic victory.
Sharapova was uncharacteristically fragile at times against Ivanovic, missing three set points while serving at 5-4 in the first set.
Elsewhere, third seed Novak Djokovic saved two set points against Juan Monaco on his way to a 6-3 7-5 victory.
Calleri saved two set points in the opening set, before Coria's accuracy from the baseline saw him move into the lead.
Sharapova broke early against Schnyder to lead 2-1 but failed to convert three set points on her opponent's serve at 5-3.
In the tie-break Novak raced into a 6-2 lead and although Henman fought off a couple of set points he was only delaying the inevitable.
The 2003 US Open champion forced his opponent to put a backhand wide, an approach long and a volley wide to bring up two set points.
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Murray had five set points before Federer claimed his fourth Australian Open title on his third championship point as he forced his opponent to net a backhand return.
Federer saved three set points with gutsy play, but on the fourth Roddick had only to put away a comfortable backhand volley, only to put it well wide.
Murray saved five set points in the opener and came from a break down in the second set to register his 400th Tour victory in just over two hours.
She may have won their previous three meetings but Sharapova was still forced to save three set points on her own serve in the second set before eventually prevailing.
Playing her first match since falling in the fourth round at Wimbledon, Jankovic saved two set points in the 10th game against the unseeded American before taking control of the contest.
People vary in their natural set points of openness, so get to know someone before placing a big bet on what their body language is telling you at any given moment.
The tennis gods appeared still to be with the Croatian when a net-cord gave him three set points and he duly converted the second, to the delight of the SW19 crowd.
Parmar saved two set points at 4-5 down in the opening set to force a tie-break and then took advantage of a costly double-fault from his opponent to take it 7-3.
Roddick led by a set and had four set points in the second set tiebreaker before the Swiss maestro clawed his way back into the match in the space of a few moments.
He blew an early break to fall a break behind himself, and had to save three set points on his own serve in the ninth game in order to keep the set alive.
Under the international governing body's new scoring system introduced in 2010, the winner of a match is determined by the number of set points won, not the overall total score of the arrows.
Errani, who is ranked 23rd in the world, showed plenty of grit to save two set points in the eighth game, but when a third set point came up in the following game Sharapova ruthlessly converted.
He was convincing and often dominant against the rangy 25-year-old Frenchman, roaring to a 5-1 lead in taking the first set, feasting on Monfils's second serve, and fending off multiple set points before winning the tiebreak.
The local man started slowly as Federer looked to wrap up a quick win, but Benneteau had three set points in the second set tiebreak, converting at the second attempt as the match began to turn in his favor.
For the next hour, serve held sway, with neither man facing a break point and the only moment of real drama came when Soderling missed his first two set points with nervous errors, before Federer netted a backhand on the third.
The Russian's ability to serve out the set was not fully tested when, at 5-3, Djokovic double-faulted on the first point of a game for the second time, soon found himself two set points down, and then watched as a Davydenko sliced return floated past him into the corner.
The Iranians came back today with a set of points in response to those concerns.
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