Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have continued their ominous marches through the early rounds of the Australian Open, booking their respective quarter-final spots with emphatic straight-sets victories.
Federer totally outclassed impressive local teenager Bernard Tomic on Sunday night at Rod Laver Arena 6-4 6-2 6-2 in just 104 minutes to qualify for his ninth-consecutive final-eight appearance at Melbourne Park.
And Nadal progressed to the Australian Open quarter-finals in the day session for the sixth time in a row with a similarly clinical victory over compatriot Feliciano Lopez 6-4 6-4 6-2 in two hours and 25 minutes.
The star pair, with 26 Grand Slam titles between them, are yet to drop a set so far.
Federer will meet 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro in the next phase after the No.11 seed breezed past Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-2 6-1 while Nadal will face off with Tomas Berdych who accounted for Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2).
Federer was at his devastating best against Tomic, outgunning the 19-year-old in aces (13-0), winners (45-13), first-serve points won (84 percent to 56) and converted break points (6-1).
The match began in tight fashion with serve being held for the first eight games before the 16-time Grand Slam champion finally got the crucial first break in the ninth game to take a 5-4 advantage after a marathon rally which included 16 shots.
From then on, it was all downhill for Tomic who would be broken a further five times and could only manage to win another four games from the next 17.
Nadal, the No.2 seed, held an 8-2 record against Lopez coming his match, and it was easy to see why.
The No.18 seed was under immediate pressure on Rod Laver Arena and despite saving six break points in his first two service games, double faulted to hand Nadal the first advantage of the match.
Lopez continued to make unforced errors -23 in total - throughout the first set and while Nadal was unable to get a second break, he eased to a set advantage.
Nadal then broke in the first game of the second, and while Lopez got that back, he was again making mistakes and was under pressure, missing a forehand volley at the net to give his opponent back the momentum.
The 2009 champion was barely putting a foot wrong and with just four unforced errors in the second set and two in the third gave Lopez no hope.
The underdog was broken in the first and fifth games and exited the tournament in a match where he made 52 unforced errors and just 26 winners.
Berdych progressed to his second consecutive quarter-final appearance at Melbourne Park after overcoming Almagro in a taxing affair on Hisense Arena which lasted almost four hours.
Berdych outdid Almagro in both winners (70-54) and aces (28-16) and won 87 percent of his first-serve points compared to the Spaniard's 76 percent.
The first set provided few opportunities for either player to gain advantage with only three break points arising and just one of them being converted in the seventh game by Almagro thanks to a botched drop shot attempt by Berdych.
That gave the 10th seed a 4-3 lead and Berdych couldn't recover as he conceded the first set.
The second produced an even stronger serving display from both players with Berdych denying Almagro any break-point opportunity