Nadal is pushed hard by home hope

Rafa Nadal's quest to win four consecutive grand-slam titles survived a feisty third-round challenge from teenager Bernard Tomic as record crowds flocked to the Australian Open in the hope of local success on Saturday.

Although never a real scare, the threat from the Australian 18-year-old during a 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 win was such that the Spanish world No.1 admitted he will have to improve, especially with his main rivals in ominous form. Robin Soderling, along with Murray a potential semi-final opponent for Nadal, trounced qualifier Jan Hernych 6-3, 6-1, 6-4.

Soderling, looking every bit the top-four player he has become, said a Nadal-Federer final was by no means a formality. "I think there's many guys who can actually compete against them and have a chance," said the Swedish fourth seed. Tomic's expected defeat ended home hopes in the singles after fifth seed Samantha Stosur was beaten by Czech Petra Kvitova 7-6 6-3.

Nadal, bidding to become only the third player to hold all the majors at once, was forced out of his comfort zone by Tomic. Playing with the freedom of a man with nothing to lose and roared on by a partisan crowd, the 199th-ranked teenager rattled the Spaniard at the start of the second set, firing rasping forehand winners about the court to take a 4-0 lead. The scowl on Nadal's face deepened as he mixed up his game to regain the lost ground, eventually edging the second set 7-5 before wrapping it up 6-3 in the third.

While Tomic was an extremely long-shot for the men's title, his compatriot Stosur was considered a genuine contender to end Australia's 33-year wait for a singles champion here. The fifth seed was unable to meet the weight of expectation that had helped draw 77,121 people to Melbourne Park, however, and crumpled under the pressure after leading the first-set tiebreaker 5-3.

Stosur picked Kim Clijsters to win the title and the three-time US Open champion continued to glide through the women's draw, beating France's Alize Cornet 7-6, 6-3.

Tenth-ranked Mikhail Youzhny crashed out 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 to Canadian qualifier Milos Raonic and 2008 runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lost 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 to Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov.

There was a fiery doubles encounter that pitched Indians Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes against Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Juan Monaco. The match ended with the players having to be separated by officials as tempers boiled over, the Spaniards unhappy at the Indians' use of the Spanish word for "let's go". "I've been using 'vamos' for about 16 or 17 years," said Paes. "Whether it's 'vamos' or 'allez', we're Indian. Nobody has a patent."