Top seed Rafael Nadal and Britain's Andy Murray remained on collision course at the Australian Open with both in red-hot form on Thursday.Nadal shattered any doubts about his ability to clinch a hard-court Grand Slam with a second easy win here, while fourth-ranked Murray hammered Spain's Marcel Granollers.
Meanwhile, last year's runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga toughed out a four-set thriller with Ivan Ljubicic to join fellow Frenchmen Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet in the next round. US number two James Blake swatted qualifier Sebastien De Chaunac, 13th seed Fernando Gonzalez out-gunned Argentina's Guillermo Canas, Mario Ancic beat fellow Croat Ivo Karlovic and Spain's Fernando Verdasco also progressed.
Spain's Nadal came into the event with question marks over his form and fitness, but he has blown the title race wide open with his performances here. The number one seed dropped a notch from his whirlwind win over Christophe Rochus but still missed only one break point as swept aside Croatia's Roko Karanusic 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.
Nadal broke twice before sealing the opening set with an ace, then took the second at a canter and clinched victory on his first match point when Karanusic put a forehand wide. The 22-year-old was previously regarded as a clay-court specialist but saw no reason why he couldn't add the Australian Open to his Wimbledon and Roland Garros titles. "I've won in Toronto, at the Olympics, Montreal, Madrid and Indian Wells on this kind of surface," he said.
"When you win these tournaments playing against the best players of the world, why can't you win a Grand Slam on hard courts?" Nadal next plays Tommy Haas with Murray lurking as a potential semi-final opponent after beating Granollers in his first full match here. Murray, whose first-round opponent Andrei Pavel retired hurt, dominated the Spaniard 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. With three-time winner Roger Federer in vintage touch and defending champion Novak Djokovic hitting top form, the event remains too close to call.
Fifth seed Tsonga showed flashes of brilliance and bravery as he survived a 195-minute marathon to down Ljubicic 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (8/7), 6-2. "I played really well out there," he said. "I was proud of myself because I was very courageous today." Gonzalez, the 2007 finalist, also stated his intent as he downed fellow baseliner Canas just two days after a tough first-round win over Australia's Lleyton Hewitt.
"This was perfect after the other day. The other day was really hard, today was more windy and it was tough to play," said the Chilean. Dark horse Simon ousted big-serving Chris Guccione, the last Australian in the men's draw, to equal his best ever Grand Slam performance. "I had to give the maximum and concentrate on every point because if you lose your serve against him, that means you lose the set," he said.
Germany's Haas beat Italian Flavio Cipolla in straight sets to set up his Nadal clash and there were also wins for Nicolas Almagro, Radek Stepanek, Jurgen Melzer and Dudi Sela. Federer and Djokovic are in the other half of the draw and play their third round matches on Friday.
RESULTS OF DAY FOUR, COLLATED
MEN'S SINGLES (2ND ROUND)
Gilles Simon (FRA x6) bt Chris Guccione (AUS) 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-1, 6-2;;Fernando Gonzalez (CHI x13) bt Guillermo Canas (ARG) 7-5, 6-3, 6-4; Richard Gasquet (FRA x24) bt Denis Istomin (UZB) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; Dudi Sela (ISR) bt Victor Hanescu (ROM) 6-3, 6-3, 6-2; Tommy Haas (GER) bt Flavio Cipolla (ITA) 6-1, 6-2, 6-1; Jurgen Melzer (AUT x31) bt Andreas Beck (GER) 5-7, 7-6 (9/7), 6-4, 6-3; Nicolas Almagro (ESP x17) bt Fabio Fognini (ITA) 6-2, 7-5, 6-0; Rafael Nadal (ESP x1) bt Roko Karanusic (CRO) 6-2, 6-3, 6-2; Fernando Verdasco (ESP x14) bt Arnaud Clement (FRA) 6-1, 6-1, 6-2; Mario Ancic (CRO) bt Ivo Karlovic (CRO x25) 5-7, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; Gael Monfils (FRA x12) bt Stefan Koubek (AUT) 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2; Radek Stepanek (CZE x22) bt Michael Berrer (GER) 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 7-5; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x5) bt Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (9/7), 6-2; James Blake (USA x9) bt Sebastien De Chaunac (FRA) 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 ; Igor Andreev (RUS x18) bt Ernests Gulbis (LAT) 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 6-4; Andy Murray (GBR x4) bt Marcel Granollers (ESP) 6-4, 6-2, 6-2;