TENNIS:The second best player in the world was on show here and it was not Rafael Nadal. At least that was the opinion of many of those who left the Rod Laver Arena in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Yes, the dynamic and effervescent Spaniard, winner of the French Open title for the past two years, defeated Andy Murray 6-7, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the first time, but for two and a half sets the Scot was dominant, displaying a variety of shot and pace that for the past year has had him marked down in the locker room as somebody very special indeed.

If there were doubts they concerned Murray's core fitness. Understandably he tired towards the end of the fabulously absorbing five-set match which lasted only a little short of four hours, but then Nadal demands the most of all his opponents.

Ask Roger Federer.

Mentally, emotionally and physically Nadal was that little bit stronger than Murray. However, there were numerous moments when the world number two stared back over the net with a look of incredulity.

Small wonder then that after hitting the match-winning shot he briefly lay face down on the court in obvious relief at having finally brought Murray's challenge to a halt.

"Andy is a great player and he's going to be in the Tennis Masters Cup this year for sure," said Nadal. In his opinion, in other words, Murray is going to finish in the world's top eight. Barring injury it cannot be long before the teenager and world number 16 enters the elite of the top 10, and nobody now doubts that it is already his rightful place.

Murray, ever the pragmatist, knows he has still to earn it and that one great performance in a grand slam is not enough. However, this was his third consecutive fourth-round match in a slam, including Wimbledon and the US Open. Both the previous defeats had left him a little upset with himself. Not this time. "I'm definitely not disappointed."

Drop the ball short and Nadal's forehand is a killer. Murray has always had the ability to vary his game and deny his opponents rhythm. Nadal was frequently baffled and increasingly perplexed as Murray denied him the chance to play his natural game. And added to the variety were shots of stunning power, coming at moments that the Spaniard clearly could not anticipate.

Murray also served wonderfully, which further unsettled Nadal. At 7-6, 4-1 there seemed a real prospect that a major upset was about to unfold, only for Murray suddenly to lose his intensity and begin to make mistakes. Two or three times he held his right side as if he had tweaked a muscle, although afterwards he refused to make any excuses for this lapse. As it was, he picked his game up again in the third set to take the lead and thereafter had numerous opportunities to tip the match his way, even in the deciding set. It was always that close.

When Murray turned professional two years ago there were those who wondered if he possessed the weapons to transform his undoubted talent into a truly potent mix. This is no longer an issue, although the power he generated against Nadal, on both forehand and backhand, was at a new level. The way Murray mixed things up will, without doubt, be a plan that others will follow in the future, albeit most do not have the Scot's ability. "Hopefully I'm only going to get better," he said. "I'm happy the way that I fought and that physically my body held up."

While Nadal was burning the midnight oil until 1.51am local time, James Blake and David Nalbandian were catching a flight out of Melbourne.

A razor will be top of Blake's duty free shopping list after he lost out on a potential last-eight match-up against double French Open champion Nadal.

The American who grows a beard whenever he is on a winning run will be enjoying a close shave for the first time in over two weeks following his defeat by 10th seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, losing 7-5 6-4 7-6.

Argentine marathon man Nalbandian finally ran out of steam, wilting to a 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-3 defeat by Germany's Tommy Haas.

Nalbandian had already been on court for more than nine hours before Monday's contest proved to be a bridge too far.