Melbourne: Tomas Berdych reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the fifth consecutive year with a 6-2, 7-6 (3), 6-2 win over local hope Bernard Tomic.
With his new fiancee Ester Satorova watching from the stands, the seventh-seeded Berdych hit 52 winners and broke Tomic four times to advance to a matchup with Rafael Nadal.
Berdych reached the quarters for the third straight year without dropping a set. He advanced to his first Australian Open semifinal last year, but lost to eventual champion Stan Wawrinka.
Nadal has an 18-3 record over Berdych and hasn't lost to the Czech player since 2006.
Berdych said, "I'm going to try to fight to the last point and bring something extra from myself."
