Murray Strolls On

On course for a semi-final showdown with Nadal; Soderling falls by the wayside.

For a second straight year at the Australian Open Austria8217;s Jurgen Melzer lost to Andy Murray in straight sets. The fifth seed has now advanced to the quarterfinals,setting up a possible semifinal with Nadal. 8220;I don8217;t want to get carried away,8221; Murray said after his 6-3,6-1,6-1 win over Jurgen Melzer of Austria. 8220;I8217;ve never won one of these things before.8221;

Murray,who knows that feeling about not having won a Grand Slam,has lost just 22 games in four matches. 8220;I8217;m not expecting to go through the tournament winning matches like that,with that scoreline,8221; Murray said. 8220;I8217;m ready for that mentally when it does get tough.8221;

Before Murray gets a potential crack at Nadal,he8217;ll face an unexpected quarterfinal rival after 22-year-old Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov had an upset 1-6,6-3,6-1,4-6,6-2 win over fourth-seeded Robin Soderling,ending the French Open finalist8217;s eight-match winning streak.

8220;He8217;s got a very unorthodox game,very different to most of the guys on the tour,8221; Murray said of Dolgopolov. 8220;He has a game that can make you play strange shots or not play that well.8221;

Dolgopolov said his father,Oleksandar,worked as a coach for the likes of Andrei Medvedev,so he sometimes hit with the players when they were practicing and the family was on tour.

8220;For sure I had some good times. I was a bit maybe annoying for some players to play with me,8221; he said. 8220;It was nice to start a tennis career like that.8221;

Meanwhile,the 8220;Rafa Slam8221; is still alive after Rafael Nadal beat Marin Cilic 6-2,6-4,6-4 on Monday to maintain his chance of owning all four Grand Slam trophies at once. He hasn8217;t dropped a set through four rounds at Melbourne Park,despite carrying the effects of a virus he picked up two weeks ago in Qatar.

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8220;Before the match I was a little bit nervous,8221; Nadal said. 8220;I know how aggressive he can play. I think I played my best match this year here at the Australian Open.8221;

No. 7 David Ferrer set up a quarterfinal match against fellow Spaniard Nadal with his 4-6,6-2,6-3,6-4 win over 20-year-old Canadian qualifier Milos Raonic,who8217;d upset No. 10 Mikhail Youzhny in the third round.

Soderling bows out

Robin Soderling hadn8217;t dropped a set during his surge that started with his run to the title at the Brisbane tuneup event. He dominated the opening set but couldn8217;t keep it up against Dolgopolov,who was coming off a five-set win over former Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Dolgopolov8217;s cross-court backhand to bring up his first match point was typical of the 50 winners he hit against a stunned Soderling,the highest of the seeded players knocked out of the men8217;s draw. Soderling saved three match points,but his run came to an end with his 51st unforced error.