Rafael Nadal continued his bid for a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory against Italian Fabio Fognini.
The Spaniard was rarely troubled in the match and secured a place in the Australian Open quarter-finals for the 13th time in his career, coming through in two hours and 16 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
The world No 2 arrived at the tournament with fitness doubts due to a stiff lower back but has yet to drop a set in the tournament.
Speaking post-match Nadal said: ‘I was not able to practise properly for the past 19 days but yesterday I started to increase the amount of work in practice again.
‘Without a doubt, the first set was my best level of tennis in the tournament. My physical condition needs to keep improving, but I think today’s win was good for my confidence.’
The Spaniard will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the next round after the fifth seed received a walkover due to Matteo Berrettini forfeiting from the tournament with an abdominal strain suffered in the previous round.
Elsewhere, Daniil Medvedev remained on course for his first ever Grand Slam title by cruising past the world No 192 Mackenzie McDonald in straight sets in just one hour and 29 minutes on Margaret Court Arena.
The world No 4 will face Andrey Rublev in an all Russian quarter-final after the seventh seed progressed past his opponent Casper Ruud, in just one hour and 17 minutes due to the Norwegian retiring with an abdominal injury when already down by two sets.
In the women’s draw world No 1 Ashley Barty moved one step closer to winning her home Grand Slam with a straight-sets victory over the American Shelby Rogers.
Barty will face Karonlina Muchova in the quarter-finals after the Czech caused an upset to defeat Elise Mertens 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.
The world No 61 Jessica Pegula also caused a major upset by battling past fifth-seed Elina Svitolina 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 after one hour and 55 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
Pegula will face her American compatriot Jennifer Brady in the next round after the 22nd seed cruised past Donna Vekic in straight sets.
There were also several British players in action in the doubles on day eight of the tournament.
The current men’s doubles champions Joe Salisbury and his American partner Rajeev Ram continued their mission to defend the title with a straight-sets victory over the Australian pair of John Peers and Michael Venus.
Jamie Murray also progressed in the men’s doubles after he and his partner Bruno Soares recovered from a set down to win in three sets against Simone Bolelli and Maximo Gonzalez.
However, it was mixed emotions for Murray after he exited the mixed doubles due to losing a champions tie-break with partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
Following them out the door was also Britain’s Heather Watson, who lost in straight-sets in the women’s doubles.
