Nadal And Murray Sweep Into Fourth Round

MELBOURNE: World number one Rafael Nadal and joint favorite Andy Murray both eased into the fourth round of the Australian Open with straight sets victories. Nadal brushed aside Germany's Tommy Haas 6-4 6-2 6-2, while fourth seed Murray was equally impressive in dispatching Jurgen Melzer of Austria 7-5 6-0 6-3. But the match of the day in the men's draw was Chilean 13th seed Fernando Gonzalez's five set, four hour victory over Richard Gasquet of France. Gonzalez, who had to come from two sets down and a match point in the third to record a 3-6 3-6 7-6 6-2 12-10 win, will now face Nadal for a place in the quarterfinals. Gonzalez, the runner-up to Roger Federer in 2007, will have to be at his very best to test Nadal, who overpowered Haas with his strong groundstrokes. The Spaniard, chasing his first victory at Melbourne Park, found himself 2-0 down early in the match, but broke back immediately and then in the fifth game to assume control which he never relinquished.. Nadal, who lost to Gonzalez in the semifinals two years ago, is expecting a difficult task in the last 16. Murray, unbeaten in 2009, gained an early break against Melzer but was broken back by his hard-hitting opponent. But the Scot, who had to come from two sets down to beat Melzer on the way to the 2008 U.S. Open final, broke through again to claim the opener and dropped only three games thereafter. Murray will next play Spanish 14th seed Fernando Verdasco, who was a comfortable 6-4 6-0 6-0 winner over Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic. On a good day for the leading seeds, fifth-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, the runner-up last year to Novak Djokovic, beat Dudi Sela of Israel. Tsonga, who had to fight hard for a 6-4 6-2 1-6 6-1 victory over the qualfier, will now play American ninth seed James Blake. Tsonga was joined in the last 16 by two compatriots, with Gael Monfils ousting Nicolas Almagro of Spain. Monfils will play fellow Frenchman and sixth seed Gilles Simon, who put out Mario Ancic of Croatia.

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