Published>Sun, Jan 24 10 04:29 PM
Rafa Nadal has backed Andy Murray to end Britain's 74-year wait for a men's grand slam champion but will hope he is not a platform for it after the duo set up an Australian Open quarter-final clash.
Defending champion Nadal, who reduced Roger Federer to tears after beating him in last year's final, continued his march through the draw by downing his fourth-round opponent Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-4 on Sunday.
The Spaniard has his first real test against Murray, however, who is yet to drop a set in Melbourne this year and charged into the final eight with a rout of big-serving American John Isner.
"First thing is (Murray) is very good. He's one of the most talented players on tour," Nadal told reporters.
"He can play offensive, he can play defensive. He can do a lot of things during the same match."
"I don't think Andy have to show nothing to nobody, no? He have enough results to be confident of winning a grand slam or win everything. But, anyway, he gonna have a lot of chances to win a grand slam, and he gonna do it for sure."
Since being struck down by knee tendonitis after the French Open last year, Nadal has struggled to reach his fist-pumping best, setting modest goals for himself at Melbourne Park.
After mowing through his first two opponents, the world number two ground out a shaky four-set win over 27th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber and declared he still needed time to get his confidence back.
Although another grinding four-set encounter, Nadal appeared in great touch with his shot-making, and showed poise to seal it with only a handful of chances offered by the Croatian.
FLAILING AT SERVES
Despite spending much of the match flailing at 200 kph serves fired from 2.08 metre (6ft-10in) Karlovic, Nadal conceded only a single service break and committed only 16 unforced errors.
He has had the measure of Murray on their last two matches and holds a 7-2 record overall, but has struggled to beat top 10 players in recent months, and was irked when asked about it.
"The numbers are the numbers. So probably is not the best moment in my career against the top 10, no? But two weeks ago I was one point away, no?" said Nadal, referring to his loss at the Qatar Open final, where he held two match points against world number six Nikolay Davydenko.
"You know, I am here to fight. Nobody can ask me more when I try all my best all the time, no?"
"So, you know, if I lose another time in two days, I gonna try in the next tournament."
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