Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova secured their places in the Australian Open quarter-finals with comfortable straight set victories on Sunday.
Nadal, the third seed, survived a scare in the first set against South African Kevin Anderson as he saved six set points before sealing a 7-5 6-1 6-4 victory.
The Spaniard struggled in his second round match with Tim Smyczek as he needed five sets to beat the American qualifier but he has won both his matches following that epic battle with the minimum of fuss.
The 2009 champion will face Tomas Berdych in the last eight after the seventh seed overcame Australian Bernard Tomic in straight sets.
Australia are still represented in the men’s quarter-finals however, as teenager Nick Kyrgios overcame Roger Federer’s conqueror Andreas Seppi in five sets in the fourth round, having fought back from 2-0 down.
In the women’s tournament Maria Sharapova made light work of Chinese hopeful Peng Shuai, beating the 21st seed 6-3 6-0.
Sharapova, who won the 2008 Australian Open crown, will face Canadian Eugenie Bouchard in the last eight after her 6-1 5-7 6-2 win over Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu.
It will be the fourth meeting between the pair, with the Russian star having won all three of their previous matches.
Simona Halep also made serene progress to the quarter-finals with a 6-4 6-2 win over Yanina Wickmayer and the third seed will now face Ekaterina Makarova after the Russian thumped Julia Goerges 6-3 6-2.
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