Australian Open: |Three of the men's top 10 seeds crashed out of the Australian Open today as the tournament began to heat up on the eve of the second week.
However there were no such problems for second seed Rafael Nadal, who reached the quarter-finals after his opponent Paul-Henri Mathieu retired through injury.
Nadal was leading 6-4 3-0 when Mathieu abruptly quit after failing to overcome a calf strain which was hampering his movement.
After allowing the Spaniard to take a double-break in the second set, Mathieu walked over to shake hands.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's astonishing campaign continued as the unseeded Frenchman dumped out compatriot Richard Gasquet in the fourth round.
Tsonga, who disposed of ninth seed Andy Murray in the opening round on Monday, moved into the quarter-finals with a 6-2 6-7 (5/7) 7-6 (8/6) 6-3 victory over his close friend in three hours and 19 minutes.
Nikolay Davydenko had no answers to fellow Russian Mikhail Youzhny who eliminated the fourth seed 7-6 (7/2) 6-3 6-1.
And David Nalbandian was the third big name to fall at Melbourne Park, the 10th seed handed a straight-sets thumping by former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero in their third-round clash.
There was no great escape for the Argentinian in this match as Ferrero found his best form to win 6-1 6-2 6-3.
It is the first time Ferrero has made the fourth round of the Australian Open since he reached the semi-finals in 2004, while it is Nalbandian's worst showing in Melbourne since 2002.
In Sunday's other third-round encounter fifth-seed David Ferrer of Spain beat America's Vincent Spadea 6-3 6-3 6-2.
Meanwhile, Philipp Kohlschreiber's impressive run is over after Jarkko Nieminen won an entertaining four-set clash between the pair at Margaret Court Arena.
Nieminen, the 24th seed from Finland, dropped the first set 6-3 in 37 minutes as Kohlschreiber carried on the form that took him past American Andy Roddick in the previous round.
In back-to-back tie-breakers - which ended 9-7 and 11-9 in favour of Nieminen - the Finn set up a two sets to one lead and comfortably held sway to seal a place in the final eight with a 6-3 scoreline in the fourth set.
In the women's competition Justin Henin continued her serene progress after easily overcoming Su-Wei Hseih 6-2 6-2 in the fourth round.
After being given a thorough workout by Italian Francesca Schiavone in the previous round, Su-Wei proved far less of a test as the top seed triumphed in 74 minutes on Vodafone Arena.
The top seed and world number one will now face Maria Sharapova in the quarter-finals after she emphatically came out on top in an all-Russian battle with Elena Dementieva.
Sharapova, who has looked impressive throughout the tournament so far, demolished her 11th-seeded opponent 6-2 6-0 in little over an hour to serve notice she will be a force to be reckoned with for the rest of the tournament.
Defending champion Serena Williams also booked her place in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open thanks to a straight-sets victory over 12th seed Nicole Vaidisova.
In an intensely competitive fourth-round encounter on Rod Laver Arena, Williams triumphed 6-3 6-4 over the Czech and will now face third seed Jelena Jankovic, who crushed Australian Casey Dellacqua's dream run with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 victory.
Third seed Jankovic put aside her shaky start to the tournament by dominating play, especially in the second set, against the unseeded and tournament surprise package Dellacqua.
Jankovic made all the right moves, playing to Dellacqua's forehand and, although the Australian was able to force a first set tie-breaker, Jankovic won 7-6 (7/3) 6-1.
Earlier in the day, four players completed the draw for the fourth round after their matches were delayed by wet weather yesterday.
Marta Domachowska ended Na Li's Australian Open charge, defeating the number 24 seed 2-6 6-2 6-4, while ninth seed Daniel Hantuchova eased past Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-2 6-3.
Nadia Petrova edged Russian compatriot Ekaterina Makarova 6-1 7-6 (10-8), and Danish teen Caroline Wozniacki accounted for another youngster, Germany's Sabine Lisicki, 4-6 6-4 6-3.