MELBOURNE: Rafael Nadal put his old rival Fabio Fognini to the sword to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals and move within three wins of the all-time Grand Slam titles record on Monday.
The Spanish great was 1-1 with the flamboyant Italian in Grand Slams but he was never seriously troubled in his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win on Rod Laver Arena.
Nadal is now into his 43rd Grand Slam quarter-final, staying on course for a title match with eight-time winner Novak Djokovic who battled through an abdominal injury to reach the last eight on Sunday.
鈥淚鈥檓 happy to be in the quarter-finals today 鈥� that means a lot to me, it鈥檚 positive stuff,鈥� said Nadal, who is targeting a record 21st men鈥檚 Grand Slam singles crown.
Next up for Nadal is Greece鈥檚 world number six Stefanos Tsitsipas, who went through on a walkover after Italy鈥檚 Matteo Berrettini pulled out with an abdominal strain.
The Melbourne tournament remained fan-free for a third day on Monday during a five-day lockdown in Victoria state to curb a coronavirus outbreak.
As the action continued in front of empty stands, unseeded American Jessica Pegula reached her maiden Grand Slam quarter-final with victory over Elina Svitolina, her first over a top-10 player.
Pegula, whose billionaire father owns the Buffalo Bills NFL team, overcame fifth seed Svitolina 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to set up a meeting with fellow American Jennifer Brady, a 6-1, 7-5 winner against Croatia鈥檚 Donna Vekic.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 get more confident 鈥� it is my best result yet and I鈥檓 playing good tennis and today was a hard-fought win,鈥� said Pegula, 26.
鈥淛en (Brady) is an awesome person. She鈥檚 a great person,鈥� Pegula added. 鈥淪he was texting me, 鈥業鈥檓 so happy, I鈥檓 so proud. This is awesome.鈥欌€�
Elsewhere, fourth seed Daniil Medvedev and seventh seed Andrey Rublev both won to ensure an all-Russian quarter-final.
Medvedev, the 2019 US Open runner-up, blew away American world number 192 Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 to extend his winning streak to 18 matches.
Rublev, who is also unbeaten this year, went through when Norway鈥檚 Casper Ruud retired after losing the first two sets.