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MELBOURNE - The tactical brain of Andy Murray proved not to be a match for the brawn of Rafael Nadal in an electrifying fourth-round tennis duel at the Australian Open today.
In a battle between two of the young guns in the sport, second seed Nadal fought tooth-and-nail to down Murray 6-7 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-1.
Apart from being the youngest men left in the tournament, Murray and Nadal also shared the distinction of being the only players to have beaten world number one Roger Federer in 2006.
Facing each other across the net for the first time, Nadal had wished Murray "Good luck" before the duo started their warm-up. In hindsight, he may have wished he had kept his mouth shut.
Leading by a set and break in the second, Murray looked like he was on the cusp of pulling off the biggest upset in the men's field.
Murray's tactics were clear from the outset -- to employ an all out attacking strategy and to get Nadal out of his comfort zone on the baseline.
Hitting crisp volleys and sizzling groundstrokes, Murray gave his coach Brad Gilbert the thumbs up once he bagged the tight first set on a Hawk-eye overrule.
He maintained the blistering pace in the second to storm into a 4-1 lead. But Murray inexplicably lost his way and allowed Nadal back.
The Spaniard pocketed the next five games to level the match and from then on the contest ebbed and flowed. They traded breakpoints and a breathtaking array of shots until Nadal finally flexed his bulging biceps to wear down an increasingly-frustrated Murray.
After almost four hours of drama, Nadal fell flat on his face having produced a ferocious running backhand winner to seal the contest.
"It was very, very tough," Nadal said courtside as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.
"Andy's a great player and he played with very good tactics. I needed a match like this (to go further)... I felt good physically in the fifth which was important," added the Spaniard, who reached the quarterfinals here for the first time.
While Nadal was burning the midnight oil until 3.51am (NZT), James Blake and David Nalbandian were catching a flight out of Melbourne.
A razor will be top of Blake's duty free shopping list after he lost out on a potential last-eight matchup against double French Open champion Nadal.
The American who grows a beard whenever he is on a winning run will be enjoying a close shave for the first time in over two weeks following his defeat by 10th seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, losing 7-5 6-4 7-6.
Argentine marathon man Nalbandian finally ran out of steam, wilting to a 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-3 defeat by Germany's Tommy Haas.
Nalbandian had already been on court for more than nine hours before Monday's contest proved to be a bridge too far.
Third seed Nikolay Davydenko will be hoping his run to the latter stages here will give him the exposure he needs to secure a long-overdue clothing sponsor. The only man in the top 10 without a shirt deal, he gave Czech Tomas Berdych a 5-7 6-4 6-1 7-6 dressing-down.
- REUTERS