Russia's Sharapova inflicted a crushing defeat on Chinese 21st seed Shuai Peng, dropping just three games on her way to a dominant victory, and she will meet Canadian rising star Eugenie Bouchard in the next round.

Unlike her Russian counterpart, Bouchard struggled during her match with Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania before she eventually negotiated a tough test with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 win.

Spain's Nadal, who nearly suffered a shock exit at the second round stage, recovered from a difficult first set to oust South African Kevin Anderson to set up a mouthwatering clash with Czech seventh seed Tomáš Berdych.

The Spaniard has been suffering with injury problems during the tournament and refused to say whether he was 100 per cent fit, but it seemed to matter little during his match with Anderson.

Nadal did, however, have to save six set points during a tense opener before he found his rhythm and began to dictate play, and the 14-time Grand Slam winner's dominance from the baseline proved too hot for Anderson to handle.

After Berdych had knocked out Australian Bernard Tomic, the partisan crowd in Melbourne finally had something to cheer as talented Australian Nick Kyrgios won a five-set epic with Andreas Seppi, the Italian who knocked out Switzerland's Roger Federer.

Kyrgios found himself two sets and match point down before he launched a spirited comeback, backed by raucous support on court, and he eventually progressed with a 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 8-6 win.

Nick Kyrgios kept the Australian presence at the tournament going as he won a five set epic against Andreas Seppi ©Getty Images



Revenge was sweet for Andy Murray as he set up a last eight clash with Kyrgios as he beat Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in four sets.

Dimitrov won the last Grand Slam meeting between the two with a comfortable victory over the British star at Wimbledon, but Murray was in sensational form this time around, claiming a 6-4, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3, 7-5 victory in a match that went on into the early hours.

In the women's draw, Sharapova displayed her brutal cutting edge with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Peng, while Romanian third seed Simona Halep also made light work of her fourth round opponent as she beat Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium in straight sets.

Ekaterina Makarova, the Russian 10th seed, booked her place in the quarter-finals by virtue of a commanding win over German Julia Görges.

Bouchard, meanwhile, proved why she is touted as a future Grand Slam winner in her clash with Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania as she came through despite losing five straight games, and her credentials are sure to be tested once more when she meets Sharapova.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
January 2015: Williams sisters both earn comeback victories to reach round four at Australian Open
January 2015: Federer suffers shock exit in third round of Australian Open
January 2015: Top seeds earn comfortable progress to round three at Australian Open
January 2015: Nadal survives scare to avoid surprise exit at Australian Open
January 2015: Djokovic begins quest for fifth Australian Open crown with comfortable win