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Rafael Nadal Strides into Australian Open Quarterfinals
By Nick Georgandis Tony Chang Photography
 Rafael Nadal continued his inexorable march through the Australian Open field Sunday with his fourth straight three-set victory, a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 triumph over fellow Spanaird Feliciano Lopez.
With the win, Nadal became the first male player to qualify for the Elite Eight and ups his streak to 10 straight Grand Slams in which he has reached at least the quarterfinals. The last time he failed to do was was at Roland Garros in 2009 when whe was stunned by Robin Soderling.
Nadal improved to 9-2 all-time against Lopez, who had never made the fourth round of the Australian Open before Sunday.
Some of their fellow Top 10 competitors might be struggling through the first four rounds of the Australian Open, but not third-seeded Victoria Azarenka nor eighth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska.
The pair of Central European stars became the first members of the women's elite eight at the Australian Open on Saturday with convincing wins.
Azarenka blew past the Czech Republic's Iveta Benesova 6-2, 6-2, while Radwanska was even more dominating, routing 22nd-seeded Julia Georges 6-1, 6-1.
The pair of winners will square off against each other in the quarterfinals.
Azarenka hit 83% of her first serves for winners and converted six break points, while Benesova failed to do so on two occasions.
Radwanska could scarcely have played a more perfect match, committing just three errors to Goerges' 27, breaking the German six times and winning 50 points to Goerges 22.
The victory propels Azarenka to her second-ever Australian Open quarterfinal (2010) and her third time into a quarterfinal in the last four Grand Slams.
She improved to 4-0 all time against Benesova.
Radwanska reaches the Ausralians Open quarterfinals for a second straight year. She has never reached beyond the quarters in any Grand Slam event.
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