MELBOURNE, 

RAFAEL Nadal finally got

the better of a crazy, long tie-breaker and knew he’d won half the battle.

After saving four set points and missing with the first six of his own, Nadal finally clinched a tie-breaker that lasted 28 minutes and 40 seconds to set himself on course to secure a spot in the Australian Open quarter-finals for a 14th time.

After his 7-6 (14), 6-2, 6-2 fourth-round victory over

fellow left-hander Adrian Mannarino on Sunday, Nadal is potentially just three wins away from a men’s record 21st Grand Slam singles title.

Nadal will next play Denis Shapovalov, the 22-year-old Canadian who finished off a 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over Olympic gold medalist Alexander Zverev on Margaret Court Arena less than an hour later to reach

the last eight in Australia for the first time.

Sania-Ram pair cruises into mixed doubles QF

INDIA’S Sania Mirza and her American partner Rajeev Ram advanced to the mixed doubles quarter-finals with a straight set win over Ellen Perez and Matwe Middelkoop here on Sunday.

The unseeded Indo-American duo took one hour 27 minutes to dispatch Australian Perez and Dutch Middelkoop 7-6 (8-6),

6-4 in the second round clash

on Court 3.

Sania and Ram will now face the winners of another second round, all Australian tie between Sam Stosur and Matthew Ebden and Jaimee Fourlis and Jason Kubler, in the quarter-finals.

Zverev looked frustrated as Shapovalov broke the German again immediately in the second. But seven double faults in the set from the Canadian helped Zverev claw back. Serving for the set at 5-3, Zverev’s inconsistency again came to the fore at crucial moments and Shapovalov forced a tie-break. The Canadian looked more comfortable of the two, winning 7/5.

“I think off the ground I was playing really well, really feeling my shots off both wings,” said Shapovalov.

“I played pretty smart today, it felt like things were going my way early on. I lost a little bit of momentum mid-way in the second set but fought well to come back and just kind of rolled with it after.”

Shapovalov’s opponent in the quarter-finals will be Nadal, after the sixth-seed defeated Adrian Mannarino of France 7-6(14), 6-2, 6-2. Nadal holds a 3-1 lead in the ATP head-to-head against Shapovalov.

“It’s always an honour to go up against a guy like Rafa,” said Shapovalov. “It’s always going to be a battle against him. It’s going to be a tough one and I’m definitely going to enjoy it.”