Australian Open - Dominant Rafa Nadal roars past Tomas Berdych into last eight

The Spaniard continued to impress mightily on his return from a knee injury, embarrassing his Czech opponent in the first two sets before coming through a more competitive third.

The Australian Open is his first official tournament since the US Open last August, but Nadal refused to be drawn on whether he expected such an impressive comeback.

He said: "When I come back from injury I don't expect positive or negative things; I just try to do my work and believe I am ready."

Nadal has not dropped a set all tournament, but had to fend off a set point on his serve. He won the decisive tie-break 7-4 after Berdych was aggravated by the service 'shot clock' mysteriously stopping working on the Nadal serve.

Berdych took altogether too long to hit his stride, impressing in the third set after failing to challenge Nadal at all beforehand. Nadal faces American tyro Frances Tiafoe in what should be a hugely exciting last-eight encounter.