Nadal too good for Aussie star

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP):

Rafael Nadal overcame the much-hyped potential star of Australian tennis in his quest for a fourth consecutive major title.

Despite a mostly parochial crowd of 15,000 at Rod Laver Arena, the top-ranked Nadal secured a 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 win over 18-year-old wildcard Bernard Tomic at the Australian Open, yesterday. Nadal advanced to a fourth-round match against Marin Cilic.

A title at Melbourne Park would make the Spanish star the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam trophies at once, although Laver achieved the true Grand Slam by winning all four in a calendar year.

"I think I started playing well, but he's the kind of player who can make you play bad," Nadal said. "I have to play a bit better if I want to get to the quarter-finals."

Comeback

French Open finalist Sam Stosur lost 7-6 (5), 6-3 to No. 25 Petra Kvitova, ending Australia's hopes in the women's draw.

For Nadal, it was not always easy. He trailed 4-0 in the second set before giving Tomic a clinic in comeback tennis. At 5-5, he broke Tomic's serve, then held in the next game to win the set.

"I thought it was over at four-love and that's when he came back," Tomic said. "You can't afford to lose concentration. Physically wise, he is a machine, he wears you down."

In other results, No. 4 Robin Soderling advanced along with Marin Cilic, who beat American John Isner 4-6, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2), 9-7 in four hours, 33 minutes.

It was the first five-set match Isner had played since his epic encounter against Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon, which finished 70-68 in the fifth for the longest tennis match in history.

US Open champion Kim Clijsters defeated Alize Cornet 7-6 (3), 6-3 of France to move another step closer to claiming her second Grand Slam in a row.

Also yesterday, Andy Murray cruised past Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.

On her 21st birthday, Cornet provided a tougher challenge for Clijsters, who had only conceded four games in her first two rounds. The French player was presented with a birthday bouquet of flowers after the match.

Tiebreaker

Second-seeded Vera Zvonareva is aiming for a third consecutive Grand Slam final, advancing with a 6-3, 7-6 (9) win over Lucie Safarova.

Zvonareva, who lost the US Open final to Clijsters, served for the match twice against Safarova but was extended to the tiebreaker. Safarova led 4-2 and 5-3 in the tiebreaker before Zvonareva finally clinched it on her fourth match point.

Zvonareva has a chance to move into the No. 1 ranking if she wins the title. Her next priority is getting past a fourth-round match against Iveta Benesova, who beat No. 16 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.

No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska defeated Simona Halep 6-1, 6-2 and will play China's Peng Shuai, who had a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win over Japan's Ayumi Morita. Peng, who saved seven break points in the seventh game of the deciding set, will make her first appearance in the fourth round of a Grand Slam.

No. 10 Shahar Peer was ousted, losing 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 to No. 22 Flavia Pennetta.

Two former finalists also went out. Marcos Baghdatis, the 2006 runner-up, retired from his third-round match because of a finger injury when he was trailing No. 11 Jurgen Melzer 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-1, 4-3.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 2008 finalist, lost 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 to Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Milos Raonic, a 20-year-old Canadian qualifier with the fastest serve in the first two rounds of the tournament at 143 mph, fired 31 aces while beating No. 10 Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.

He will play No. 7 David Ferrer, a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 winner over Richard Berankis.

Soderling defeated Jan Hernych 6-3, 6-1, 6-4. He will play Dolgopolov, has not dropped a set and is on an eight-match winning streak.