Tennis:Rafael Nadal remained on course for the "Rafa Slam" after moving into the last eight with a convincing win over Marin Cilic. The Spaniard, who is bidding to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four grand slams simultaneously, set up an Australian Open quarter-final against David Ferrer after seeing off the big-serving Croatian 6-2 6-4 6-3.
Nadal looked out-of-sorts despite beating Bernard Tomic on Saturday night but cut a far more composed figure this evening as he offered Cilic few opportunities to cause a shock. The world number one set the tone by breaking Cilic in the opening game and another break in game five saw him race into a 4-1 lead.
He duly served it out and, while Cilic had his moments in the second set, there was a sense of inevitability when Nadal broke for a 4-3 lead before going on to clinch the set.
The third followed a similar pattern with the top seed breaking again in game seven and he closed it out when Cilic served a double fault on Nadal’s third match point.
“Before the match I was a little bit nervous because he is very dangerous and I tried to play with high intensity,” he said. “I am very happy because I played my best match of the year at the Australian Open.”
Nadal has been suffering from a virus in recent weeks but he claimed he was over the worst, adding: “I am not sweating that much tonight, in previous days I was sweating like crazy and I was feeling very tired. Today was the first time that I felt perfect physically.”
Andy Murray continued to blaze a trail through the draw but the world number five accepts tougher challenges lie ahead as he bids to land a maiden grand slam title. Murray cruised past Jurgen Melzer, winning 6-3 6-1 6-1 to maintain his record of having not dropped a set in the tournament so far.
Murray produced a mature, controlled performance, contrasting sharply with that offered by Melzer, the Austrian spraying the ball all over Rod Laver Arena as his all-or-nothing game was woefully exposed. Murray will meet Alexandr Dolgopolov in the last eight after the Ukrainian stunned fourth seed Robin Soderling in a five-set thriller.
And with Nadal and Roger Federer potential opponents in the semi-final and final, Murray accepts straight-set wins may be a thing of the past. He said: “I feel good but the matches are definitely going to get tougher. I’m not expecting to go through the tournament winning matches like that, with that scoreline. So I’m ready for that mentally when it does get tough.”
While the Scottish fifth seed oozed class in his humbling of Juergen Meltzer, fourth seed Soderling was sent packing 1-6 6-3 6-1 4-6 6-2 by the Ukrainian Dolgopolov. Soderling, twice runner up at the French Open, admitted he was nowhere near his best but also paid tribute to the talents of his 22-year-old pony-tailed vanquisher.
"My two biggest weapons are my serve and my forehand. They were not weapons today," said the 26-year-old, who had never previously been beyond the second round at Melbourne Park. "He's a good player. He has a great backhand and he's moving very well. He's a great counter-puncher. He has a good chance to do really well I think."
Dolgopolov was only the second Ukrainian to reach a grand slam quarter-final after 1999 French Open finalist Andrei Medvedev, who was coached by his father Oleksandr.
Another young gun's free-wheeling run through the draw ended when seventh seeded David Ferrer patiently saw off Canadian qualifier Milos Raonic 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-4. Ferrer blunted the 20-year-old's rocket serves to reach the quarter-finals and a meeting with Croatia's Marin Cilic or fellow Spaniard Rafa Nadal.