For a player who was all doom and gloom about his fitness on the eve of the Australian Open, Rafa Nadal emerged as an unlikely pillar of strength on day eight as injuries cut a swathe through the men’s draw on Monday.

Nadal’s bid for a record 21st Grand Slam crown gathered pace with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 demolition of Fabio Fognini that took the Spaniard into his 13th quarter final at Melbourne Park.

The lower back strain that forced Nadal to miss the ATP Cup is now disappearing in the rear-view mirror and he heads into his next clash against fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas without having dropped a set.

“The first set without a doubt has been my best level in the tournament,” Nadal told reporters after routing 16th seed Fognini.

Tsitsipas did not have to lift a racket against ninth seed Matteo Berrettini, who pulled out with an abdominal strain.

Norwegian Casper Ruud’s hopes of a maiden Grand Slam quarter final were also undone by an abdominal injury as he retired two sets in against Russian Andrey Rublev.

Having had his fair share of injuries over the years, Nadal felt there was little point in trying to conceal their true nature.

Although speculation over Djokovic’s fitness will continue, Nadal said no player could grit his teeth and win a Grand Slam with a serious injury.

Russian revolution

Russia’s 16-year wait for a men’s Grand Slam singles champion may not come to an end next Sunday, but Daniil Medvedev, Rublev and Aslan Karatsev have all reached the last eight.

Fourth seed Medvedev, who defeated Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 6-2, 6-3, and seventh seed Rublev joined qualifier Karatsev in the quarter finals, an unprecedented concentration of Russians at that stage of a Grand Slam in the open era.

“It’s amazing,” Medvedev laughed, when word filtered through to his news conference that Rublev’s opponent Ruud had retired.

Marat Safin was the last Russian to win a Grand Slam — here in 2005.

Easy for Barty

Ash Barty made light of the challenge of unseeded Shelby Rogers with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. The world No. 1 looked every bit the title contender as she swept into the last eight without dropping a set.

The 24-year-old set up a quarter final against Czech Karolina Muchova, whorecovered from a shaky start to defeat Belgian Elise Mertens 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.

Jessica Pegula continued her dream run here with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over Elina Svitolina to set up an all-American quarter final against Jennifer Brady, who beat Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-1, 7-5.