Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova set up an explosive Australian Open quarterfinal with crushing wins yesterday, but David Nalbandian's title run fizzled out at a drizzly Melbourne Park.
The men's 10th seed was given a 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 pasting by Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero in a third-round match held over from Saturday.
Ferrero and Nalbandian took up residence on center court just six hours after the end of Lleyton Hewitt's epic five-set victory over Marcos Baghdatis which ended at 4:33 am after four hours 45 minutes of see-saw action.
Ferrero's victory could hardly have been more different as he raced past the Argentine in just 104 minutes.
"When you play matches against the top players like today, you want to do your best - I think I did it very well," he said.
Ferrero next plays compatriot and near namesake David Ferrer. The fifth seed swatted aside American Vince Spadea 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.
World No 1 Henin breezed past Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei 6-2, 6-2 to book her place in the last eight, before announcing that she must start from scratch.
"Now it's like another tournament is going to start. It's gonna be another level," the 25-year-old told reporters.
"There are things I'll have to improve and really raise my level in the next matches."
Sparkling Sharapova
Sharapova sparkled on the Vodafone Arena, pummeling 11th-seeded fellow Russian Elena Dementieva for the loss of just two games.
"I did a good job of just being solid," the 20-year-old told reporters. "I was seeing the ball well today.
"Quarterfinal of a Grand Slam is not going to be easy, especially when you're playing against someone that's No 1 in the world."
Champion Serena Williams posted a solid 6-3, 6-4 win over Czech Nicole Vaidisova and next plays third seed Jelena Jankovic, who defeated local hope Casey Dellacqua 7-6, 6-1 later yesterday.
French powerhouse Jo-Wilfried Tsonga continued his dream run, beating compatriot and doubles partner Richard Gasquet 6-2, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3.
"I played well. I was very good in my body. I felt everything good, so that's the difference, maybe," Tsonga smiled.
Tsonga next plays Mikhail Youzhny after the 14th seed thrashed fourth-seeded fellow Russian Nikolay Davydenko 7-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Men's second seed Rafael Nadal strolled into the quarterfinals after his fourth-round opponent Paul-Henri Mathieu defaulted during the second set with a calf-muscle injury.
The Spaniard was leading 6-4, 3-0 at the time the French 23rd seed pulled out after dropping service in the third game of the second set. Nadal will now play Finland's 24th seed Jarkko Nieminen on Tuesday.
Mathieu had sought courtside treatment from a trainer for the injury several times and decided not to aggravate it further when he went behind two service breaks in the second set.
Nadal had been in control of their evening center court match and had wrapped up the opening set after a service break in the third game.
"It was a little disappointing for me, too, because I was playing a great match today," Nadal said.
"I was feeling like I was playing my best level here in Australia and I was very happy about my game.
"I'm happy to be in the quarterfinal, but not like this way."
Chinese No 1 Li Na failed to match her last year's fourth-round record in the Australian Open as she was upset by losing to Polish qualifier Marta Domachowska 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the third round of this year's tournament.
Li, a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon in 2006, was philosophical about her Australian Open exit, saying she was satisfied with her performance.
She won an Open lead-up tournament on Australia's Gold Coast and was hoping to replicate her good form throughout the year.
"It's been good, I've only lost once this year."
On the loss to Domachowska, she joked: "It's OK, it gives me more time to go shopping."
Li backs venue change
Li Na also called for the Australian Open to be moved to Shanghai, saying the city's climate was better for tennis than Melbourne.
Li backed the prospect of shifting the season-opening Grand Slam, which has been played in Australia since 1905.
"I'd like it in Shanghai," the tournament 24th seed said.
"It would be only hour-and-a-half (flight) from my hometown (Wuhan).
"Also the weather for us is tough, it's so hot in Australia. It wasn't too bad this year but last year it was tough.
"In China at this time of year it's colder, better weather for tennis."
Defending Australian Open champions Roger Federer and Serena Williams have opposed any move to switch the tournament's venue.
Source: China Daily/Agencies
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