Brutal Rafa Nadal, mean Andy Murray march on in Melbourne

Rafa Nadal shook off the sweats to savage Croatian Marin Cilic and reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on a Melbourne Monday evening as cool as the top seed was hot.

Nadal, who was perspiring profusely earlier in the week as he battled flu, declared his 6-2 6-4 6-3 win his best match "by far" at the tournament where he hopes to become just the third man to hold all four grand slam titles at once.

Andy Murray also doled out an impressive thrashing but his expected quarter-final showdown with Robin Soderling failed to materialise after Melbourne Park debutant Alexandr Dolgopolov shocked the Swede.

In Image: Britain's Andy Murray celebrates his fourth round win over Austria's Jurgen Melzer at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 24, 2011.

Images: AP

Full Coverage: Australian Open 2011