World No. 3 Elina Svitolina was made to sweat but avenged her loss in Miami this year against China's Wang Yafan, needing two tie-breaks to move into the round of 16 with a straight-sets 7-6 (5), 7-6 (1) victory
Despite playing three major finals, Simona Halep has yet to overcome a mental barrier which has kept her away from getting her hands on the coveted Grand Slam trophy.
Nadal improved to 5-0 in his career against Zverev and gained an extra measure of confidence entering the French Open, which starts next Sunday.
Defending champion Elina Svitolina returned to the Italian Open final with a comfortable 6-4, 6-3 win over 26th-ranked Anna Kontaveit.
Nadal, who hasn't won the Italian Open since 2013, will next face Fabio Fognini, who beat Peter Gojowczyk 6-4, 6-4 to reach his first quarterfinal in 11 appearances at his home tournament.
The 23-year old Brit checked all those boxes on Rod Laver Arena, setting himself up for a match against either top-ranked Rafael Nadal or No. 6 Marin Cilic for a spot in the final of the season's first Grand Slam.
Pliskova opened last season with a victory in Brisbane and rose to the No. 1 ranking in July before finishing 2017 at the number four spot.
With a hard earned win against compatriot Matthew Ebden, the fiery Australian has set up a quarterfinal clash against former Brisbane International runner-up Alexandr Dolgopolov, who beat Horacio Zeballos 6-1, 6-2 in the second round.
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