Nadal, Murray, Soderling ease through

World number one Rafael Nadal stepped up his bid for a fourth straight Grand Slam title with a crushing win, as leading seeds Andy Murray and Robin Soderling had trouble-free passage at the Australian Open Thursday. Nadal, chasing a non-calendar year Grand Slam, overran American qualifier Ryan Sweeting 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 to set up an intriguing third round match with exciting Australian teenager Bernard Tomic.
While Nadal continued to march on, fourth seed Soderling again did not drop a set in disposing of Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, 6-3, 7-6 (7/1), 6-1. British fifth seed Murray cruised past Illya Marchenko of Ukraine 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 to also progress to the last 32.
Nadal, the Spanish nine-time major winner, is satisfied with his form, saying his serve had greatly improved from his opening round encounter with Marcos Daniel. "I think I played a solid match. A few mistakes with the backhand, that's all," Nadal said. "My serve improved a lot since the first day, so I am happy with that.
"My backhand had a few more mistakes than usual and maybe I will have to play a little bit more aggressively, more inside the court. But in general I am happy." Nadal stretched his Grand Slam winning streak to 23 matches going back to the French Open last June and taking in his victories at Wimbledon and the US Open.
He is also chasing his second Australian Open title and 10th Grand Slam title overall. At last September's US Open he became the youngest man in the Open Era to achieve a career Grand Slam. "I am very happy about what I have done. That's given me a lot of calmness," he said. "I have probably less pressure right now after last year's season, winning a lot."
Tomic, 18, will have the home crowd behind him when he takes on Nadal after he eliminated Spanish 31st seed Feliciano Lopez, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/3), 6-3. The Australian teenager, who is playing with a wildcard, lines up for the biggest match of his emerging career against Nadal.
"I can't believe that I'm playing him," Tomic said. "What an opportunity it is to play him, in a third round as well. "It's a dream come true. Look, I've got nothing to lose." Nadal said he was also looking forward to facing Tomic in an expected night match on Rod Laver Arena on Saturday.
Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga needed 2hr 30min to put away the 51st-ranked Andreas Seppi, 6-3, 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/5) and is seeking to repeat his 2008 final appearance where he lost to Novak Djokovic. Other winners included Russian 10th seed Mikhail Youzhny and 15th seed Marin Cilic of Croatia, while Canadian Milos Raonic hit the fastest serve of the tournament so far - 230 kilometres (143 miles) per hour - during his upset of French 22nd seed Michael Llodra.
Argentina's 27th seed David Nalbandian retired suffering from exhaustion while trailing Lithuania's Richard Berankis 6-1, 6-0, 2-0. Nalbandian was coming off a gruelling five-set win over Australian Lleyton Hewitt in almost five hours in Tuesday's opening round. "Today I was empty. I didn't feel good. It was tough, very tough," Nalbandian said. "I tossed a ball for the serve and everything was moving around. It's tough playing like that." Collated results from day four of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park here Thursday (x denotes seeding):
Women's singles (2nd round) Peng Shuai (CHN) bt Jelena Jankovic (SRB x7) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3; Ayumi Morita (JPN) bt Caroline Garcia (FRA) 6-4, 6-4; Simona Halep (ROM) bt Alisa Kleybanova (RUS x24) 6-4, 7-6 (7/2); Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x12) bt Petra Martic (CRO) 6-3, 6-4; Nadia Petrova (RUS x13) bt Alicia Molik (AUS) 6-4, 6-1; Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) bt Lesya Tsurenko (UKR) 7-6 (8/6), 6-1; Alize Cornet (FRA) bt Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP x26) 7-5, 6-1; Kim Clijsters (BEL x3) bt Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 6-1, 6-3; Samantha Stosur (AUS x5) bt Vera Dushevina (RUS) 6-3, 6-2; Petra Kvitova (CZE x25) bt Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) 6-3, 6-4; Flavia Pennetta (ITA x22) bt Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP) 6-2, 6-2; Shahar Peer (ISR x10) bt Sorana Cirstea (ROM) 6-3, 6-2; Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS x16) bt Kristina Barrois (GER 6-2, 6-2; Iveta Benesova (CZE) bt Maria Kirilenko (RUS x18) 6-3, 6-1; Lucie Safarova (CZE x31) bt Klara Zakopalova (CZE) 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 7-5; Vera Zvonareva (RUS x2) bt Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1
Men's singles Rafael Nadal (ESP x1) bt Ryan Sweeting (USA) 6-2, 6-1, 6-1; Bernard Tomic (AUS) bt Feliciano Lopez (ESP x31) 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/3), 6-3; John Isner (USA x20) bt Radek Stepanek (CZE) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1; Marin Cilic (CRO x15) bt Santiago Giraldo (COL) 6-3, 7-6 (7/1), 6-1; Mikhail Youzhny (RUS x10) bt Blaz Kavcic (SLO) 6-3, 6-1, 5-7, 4-6, 6-1; Milos Raonic (CAN) bt Michael Llodra (FRA x22) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 7-6 (7/4); Ricardas Berankis (LTU) bt David Nalbandian (ARG x27) 6-1, 6-0, 2-0 (ret); David Ferrer (ESP x7) bt Michael Russell (USA) 6-0, 6-1, 7-5; Robin Soderling (SWE x4) bt Gilles Muller (LUX) 6-3, 7-6 (7/1), 6-1; Jan Hernych (CZE) bt Thomaz Belluci (BRA x30) 6-2, 6-7 (11/13), 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 8-6; Aleksandr Dolgopolov (UKR) bt Benjamin Becker (GER) 6-3, 6-0, 3-6, 7-6 (7/3); Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x13) bt Andreas Seppi (ITA) 6-3, 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/5); Jurgen Melzer (AUT x11) bt Pere Riba (ESP) 6-2, 6-4, 6-2; Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP x32) bt Eduardo Schwank (ARG) 6-4, 7-6 (10/8), 6-1; Andy Murray (GBR x5) bt Illya Marchenko (UKR) 6-1, 6-3, 6-3; Marcos Baghdatis (CYP x21) bt Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.