Home hope taught lesson by world number one, who eyes improvement
Rafael Nadal saw off the threat of Bernard Tomic to seal a place in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
The top seed in Melbourne recorded his third successive straight sets victory of the tournament with a 6-2 7-5 6-3 success over one of the more dangerous floaters in the draw.
Tomic, the German-born Australian, got the better of Jeremy Chardy in the opening round and took out 31st seed Feliciano Lopes to book a blockbuster tie with Nadal on Saturday.
But the 18-year-old local hope was given a tennis education by Lopez' compatriot under the floodlights of Rod Laver Arena.
Nadal, bidding to become the first man since Laver to hold all four majors at the same time, said in a courtside interview: "I have to play better if I want to get to the quarter-finals. I didn't have enough from the baseline to destroy him."
As the crowd laughed at his choice of words, a red-faced Nadal grabbed the microphone and added: "I'm sorry. I didn't have another English word!"Swashbuckling
Nadal, champion here in 2009, bombed through the first set and looked odds on to dish out another emphatic battering, like he did in the two rounds previous.
But Tomic came out swinging in the second, bursting into a 4-0 lead with his unorthodox forehand penetrating the world number one's defence.
As the teenager appeared to have ignited the contest, Nadal came roaring back as the swashbuckling Spaniard reduced his arrears and clawed four successive games of his own .
His red T-shirt drenched in sweat, Nadal finally took the second set 7-5 with a fierce serve down the middle and that hammer blow was effectively a match-point for the tournament favourite.
And after an early break in the third, the 24-year-old closed out the match with a drilled backhand which was too hot for Tomic to handle.
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