Spaniard Rafael Nadal continued his charge through to the fourth round of the Australian Open and a clash with Andy Murray after overcoming Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka in straight sets.
A humid and rain-affected afternoon in Melbourne also saw local favourite Lleyton Hewitt bundled out by Fernando Gonzalez.
Number two seed Nadal, 20, took just over two hours to equal his previous best showing at Melbourne Park and was rarely troubled by Roger Federer's countryman as he sealed the match 6-2 6-2 6-2.
In stark contrast to his renowned power game, Nadal's performance under the roof at Rod Laver Arena proved to be a more relaxed and composed effort.
And despite being bumped out in the third round, Wawrinka took his chances and surprisingly outshone his highly-rated opponent at times by hitting 25 winners to Nadal's 21.
However, the Spaniard's tenacity and lack of errors ensured his advance through to the round of 16 where he will take on British number one Murray, who easily accounted for Argentinian Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3 6-2 6-4.
Speaking after sealing victory, Nadal said he was happy with his progress through the first week of the tournament.
'Every match is tough. Every match is different. Every match has difficult moments,' he said.
'I'm happy today. I played my best match, 100%. I played well today - very, very good. I'm happy for that.'
And in yet another thrilling night match in the Rod Laver Arena, fans at Melbourne Park were treated to a nail-biting contest as number ten seed Fernando Gonzalez ended the title aspirations of former runner-up Hewitt 6-2 6-2 5-7 6-4.
Despite being out of his depth against the Chilean powerhouse and conceding the first two sets with ease, the Australian battler clawed his way back into the contest after engineering a surprise service break in the third set.
But eventually Gonzalez's class shone through as he broke Hewitt midway through the final set before ensuring victory with a stunning winner on his fourth match point.
Argentina's David Nalbandian had to battle his way to a four-hour victory over Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean in testing conditions under the roof in the Vodafone Arena.
Despite losing the first two sets, the number eight seed mounted an extraordinary comeback to cast aside the title hopes of Grosjean 5-7 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 6-1.
In a match where the statistics reflected an even contest, it was Nalbandian's ability to knuckle down and fend off three match points that ensured his place in the round of 16.
Afterwards a relieved Nalbandian conceded he had been lucky to escape defeat.
'It was very difficult. Saving three match points is not easy,' he said. 'I played well from there. Sometimes [I'm] lucky. Sometimes I play well. But today was lucky.'
Capping off a disappointing day for France, Russian third seed Nikolay Davydenko also ended the title aspirations of veteran Fabrice Santoro 7-6 (7-1) 6-2 6-2 in two hours.
Turning in an aggressive performance, Davydenko cast aside his high error rate by sending down 62 winners for the match.
Santoro, on the other hand, despite hitting only 16 unforced errors in the entire two hours, was eventually outclassed by his more potent rival.
In an all-American battle James Blake continued his strong start to the year by eliminating Robby Ginepri 7-6 (9-7) 7-5 6-2.
Seeded fifth heading into the Australian Open just days after winning the Medibank International in Sydney, Blake was forced to work hard by his compatriot.
With little separating the fierce rivals throughout the opening set, it was the seeded American who eventually won through with some gritty play during the tie-breaker.
Then, with several set points in the second and the chance to claw his way back into the match, Ginepri failed to convert and Blake subsequently broke his next service game to agonisingly claim the set.
This proved to be Ginepri's last resistance as Blake wrapped up the final set in just 23 minutes to book a place in the round of 16.
Andy Murray powered into the last 16 of the Australian Open with an aggressive and confident straight-sets win over Juan Ignacio Chela.
The British number one played superb attacking tennis to win 6-3 6-2 6-4.
Due to heavy rain at Melbourne Park the remaining third round matches - which include a clash between Germans Tommy Haas and Florian Mayer and Tomas Berdych tackling Dmitry Tursunov - have been postponed until tomorrow.
