MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Czech Tomas Berdych belied his lowest seeding at a grand slam since 2010 by sweeping into his seventh Australian Open quarter-final with a convincing 6-1 6-4 6-4 victory over Fabio Fognini on Monday.
Showing great mobility for a big man, Berdych fired 37 winners to neutralise the potentially tricky world number 25 in a sometimes niggly two-hour contest on Margaret Court Arena.
Italian Fognini, looking restricted by a foot injury in the opening set, briefly grabbed control of the match for breaks in the second and third sets but Berdych would not be denied.
Berdych next meets Roger Federer, who beat him in the third round last year on his way to winning the title, or Hungarian Marton Fucsovics for a place in his third Melbourne Park semi-final.
Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney, editing by Peter Rutherford