Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal cut a swathe through the third round of the Australian Open Saturday but Australian drawcard Lleyton Hewitt crashed out. Former champion and sixth seed Martina Hingis was also in ominous form, as was fourth seed Kim Clijsters.
British ace Andy Murray won to set up a last 16 clash with Nadal but 2005 runner-up Hewitt was bumped by tenth seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, who now plays fifth seed James Blake.
Gonzalez was unstoppable for two and a half sets and fought back from losing the third to oust the 19th seed 6-2, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, raising fresh questions over Hewitt's ability to again compete at the top level. "If I got into the fifth set I would have fancied my chances," said Hewitt, whose tournament preparations were hampered by injury.
"It's disappointing to lose but I'm sure there will be some positives coming out of this. I put everything on the line but obviously not having the best preparation coming into the tournament made it tough."
With play on all outside courts cancelled without a ball being hit due to rain, top seed Sharapova overwhelmed Italian 30th seed Tathiana Garbin 6-3, 6-1 to set up an encounter with Russian 22nd seed Vera Zvonareva. Sharapova wore down Garbin in centre court conditions made sticky and uncomfortable with the roof closed and the air conditioning not functioning.
But they were nothing like the draining extreme heat she was forced to endure in her opening match. "I guess I can say I'm lucky to be in the tournament after the first round so I'm happy with every win I get here so I look forward to improving with every match," Sharapova said.
Nadal, the second seed, made short work of Stanislas Wawrinka in their first-ever meeting, crushing the hapless Swiss 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. The Spaniard, who has not won a title since Roland Garros last year and has not made a final since Wimbledon, is seeded to face world number one Roger Federer in the final.
"He was very aggressive, has a good backhand, but I played my best match here this year," said Nadal, who now faces 15th seed Murray who beat Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina in straight sets.
Murray has never been beyond the fourth round of a Grand Slam and played down his chances against Nadal. "I'm really looking forward to playing Nadal. I don't think I've got much chance of winning but I'll give it a go," said the Scot. Hingis, the champion here in 1997, 98 and 99, snuffed Japan's Aiko Nakamura's hopes of an upset in a convincing 6-2, 6-1 display.
The Swiss Miss is starting to show the form that has taken her to six finals here and will next play either ninth seed Dinara Safina or China's 19th seed Li Na, whose match was held over to Sunday by rain. "I've not played her before and I had to play 100 percent, which I did," said the sixth seed. "Good placement, pretty high percentage of first serves."
Clijsters, who has been racing her friend Hingis to see who can get through their matches the quickest, was made to work by Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko before running out a 6-3, 6-3 winner. But she got back in the locker room in exactly one hour, two minutes quicker than Hingis.
Blake rode his luck to book his place in the fourth round with a straight sets victory over compatriot Robby Ginepri. Eighth seed David Nalbandian, who has made the quarter-finals here in the last four years, saved three match points to come back from two sets down and knock out Frenchman Grosjean 5-7, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 6-1. Collated results from rain-affected day six of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park here Saturday (x denotes seeding).
MEN'S SINGLES (THIRD ROUND) David Nalbandian (ARG x8) bt Sebastien Grosjean (FRA x28) 5-7 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 6-1 Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) bt Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI x31) 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 Nikolay Davydenko (RUS x3) bt Fabrice Santoro (FRA) 7-6 (7/1), 6-2, 6-2 James Blake (USA x 5) bt Robby Ginepri (USA) 7-6 (9/7), 7-5, 6-2 Andy Murray (GBR x15) bt Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 Fernando Gonzalez (CHI x10) bt Lleyton Hewitt (AUS x19) 6-2, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
WOMEN'S SINGLES (THIRD ROUND) Maria Sharapova (RUS x1) bt Tathiana Garbin (ITA x30) 6-3, 6-1 Martina Hingis (SUI x6) bt Aiko Nakamura (JPN) 6-2, 6-1 Kim Clijsters (BEL x4) bt Alona Bondarenko (UKR x29) 6-3, 6-3 Vera Zvonareva (RUS x22) bt Ana Ivanovic (SRB x13) 6-1, 6-2 Patty Schnyder (SUI x8) bt Alicia Molik (AUS) 3-6, 6-2, 6-0.
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