Belgium's Kim Clijsters lunges for the ball during her match against Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne yesterday. Clijsters won 6-1, 7-5. - Reuters

MELBOURNE (Reuters):

The tactical brain of Andy Murray proved not to be a match for the brawn of Rafael Nadal in an electrifying fourth-round duel at the Australian Open yesterday.

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.

After almost four hours of drama, Nadal fell flat on his face having produced a ferocious running backhand winner to seal the contest.

Great player

"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, reaching the quarter-finals here for the first time.

Murray said: "I'm definitely not disappointed. I felt like I played a really great match and I played near to the best I can play right now."

While the Scot was burning the midnight oil until 1.51 a.m. local time, James Blake and David Nalbandian were catching a flight out of Melbourne.

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 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 defeat by 10th seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile.

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.

Davydenko eyes deal

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.

In the women's draw, Maria Sharapova, Clijsters and Hingis restored calm at the Open a day after five women's seeds, including defending champion Amelie Mauresmo, were bounced out.

Three-time former champion Hingis withstood a fierce barrage from Li Na just as the Chinese looked set to become her country's first singles quarter-finalist at Melbourne Park. Li held the upper hand for a set until she withered away under sunny skies to exit 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Clijsters romped to a 6-1, 7-5 win in 79 minutes over Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova.

"It's always a pleasure to play against her (Hingis), she's such a great champion," said Clijsters.

Fans scrambled for their earplugs on Rod Laver Arena as top speed Sharapova shrieked to a 7-5, 6-4 win in a Russian catfight against Vera Zvonareva. She will next run into another compatriot, Anna Chakvetadze.