• Australian Open, Day Six

Nadal stumbles through as Melzer sets up Murray clash

Rafael Nadal was made to work hard against Bernard Tomic © PA Photos

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Day Six Gallery

Rafael Nadal looked some way short of championship-winning form as he grinded out a 6-2 7-5 6-3 third-round victory over Bernard Tomic on day six of the Australian Open.

Nadal, who is continuing his pursuit to hold all four grand slams simultaneously, started powerfully in Melbourne but he was made to look extremely penetrable in the second set as Tomic broke on two occasions. The Australian was never going to have the athleticism to turn his successes into victory, but the match will have given a boost to Nadal's major rivals.

The first set belonged to the world No. 1, but it was Tomic who decided the destination of the majority of the points on offer. The Australian hit double the number of Nadal winners, but crucially he committed 20 unforced errors in eight games.

Tomic managed to trim those errors in the second, and two breaks - aided by an unreliable Nadal serve - allowed him to lead when serving for 5-2. However, when Nadal is not playing well he digs in better than any other player in the world, and he fought back to take the set despite winning less points than his opponent.

The third stanza was more predictable, with Nadal closing the match out to set up a fourth-round encounter with Marin Cilic, who was involved in a draining five-setter with John Isner. The American might have feared a repeat of his Wimbledon marathon with Nicolas Mahut as the final set went to a 16th game, but Cilic eventually advanced 4-6 6-2 6-7(5) 7-6(2) 9-7.

Andy Murray will play Jurgen Melzer in round four after the Austrian beat Marcos Baghdatis, who retired in the fourth when trailing 2-1. Baghdatis took the first set, but the next two were extremely one-sided before the Cypriot retired.

Mikhail Youzhny and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga both made high-profile exits from the Australian Open on Saturday, the seeds falling to unfancied opponents in the third round. No. 10 seed Youzhny had not been in top form just to reach this point and gigantic Canadian Milos Raonic took advantage to claim his scalp 6-4 7-5 4-6 6-4 in another day of oppressive Melbourne summer heat.

Tsonga followed fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils out of the tournament as he failed to go the distance against Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov. Tsonga started the better and went ahead after three sets but he could only win two games after that point, running out of steam in a 3-6 6-3 3-6 6-1 6-1 boilover victory for Dolgopolov.

Some big names in the men's draw have exited unexpectedly but the top tier of players made it through the day unscathed. No. 4 seed Robin Soderling led the way by easing past Jan Hernych 6-3 6-1 6-4, and No. 7 seed David Ferrer joined him with a 6-2 6-2 6-1 thrashing of Richard Berankis.

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