Nadal victory leaves eight men standing

Tennis

World number one Rafael Nadal has defeated Marin Cilic in straight sets to book the last remaining quarter-final spot in the Australian Open.

Nadal beat Cilic in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3, to set up an all-Spanish encounter with seventh seed David Ferrer on Wednesday.

Although the score would suggest otherwise, the match was a close affair, with the difference being the ability of the Spaniard to keep the ball in play in longer points.

The number one didn't have it all his own way, particularly earlier in the match. Nadal missed plenty of break point opportunities and was forced into playing defensive tennis at times through some powerful Cilic forehands.

The two-metre Croatian, normally dominant on serve, struggled to make first serves consistently, sending many games throughout the match to Deuce.

The first set might have been the closest of all, with two back-to-back games running at almost twenty minutes. Cilic winners were constantly being cancelled out by Cilic errors, while Nadal continued to play consistent tennis.

After 56 minutes, Nadal won what could be called the closest 6-2 set ever. From there, he didn't look back.

Although the scores became closer in the following sets, Nadal continued to look more comfortable during lengthier points.

Nadal's time taken between points was again a focal point, with his opponent asking on more than one occassion for an intervention by the umpire.

A clearly rattled fifteenth seed in Cilic was slowly taken apart by the increasingly aggressive Nadal game. Losing his serve at 3-all in the third set virtually secured Nadal his nineteenth straight Grand Slam quarter-final appearance.

The story of Cilic's service game was summed up through the way he concluded the match, with an uncharacteristic double fault.

Nadal called the match his best at the open so far. "Today was the first day I felt perfect physically," he stated post-match.

In tomorrows matches, Roger Federer plays Stanislaus Wawrinka in the first ever all-Swiss Australian Open final tomorrow, while Tomas Berdych will play Novak Djokovic during the night session.