Nadal into quarters

Rafael Nadal has continued his effortless march through the early rounds of the Australian Open, booking a quarter final spot for the sixth consecutive year with a straight sets win over Feliciano Lopez.

Nadal, the No.2 seed, held an 8-2 record against his compatriot coming into this match, and it was easy to see why as he took just two hours and 25 minutes to book his position in the final eight, 6-4 6-4 6-2.

Lopez, 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 to 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 on a match where we made 52 unforced errors and just 26 winners.
Nadal, who looks to be improving with every match, and is yet to drop a set, gets the winner of the Tomas Berdych and Nicolas Almagro match in the quarter final.