Australian Open 2011: Andy Murray storms into quarter-finals

In a reprise of his 2010 campaign here, Andy Murray's progress to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open has been simultaneously serene and intimidating. A year ago, he entered the second week by accounting for a hobbling Rafa Nadal en route to the final where he disintegrated against a two-legged Roger Federer. He is determined not to let this chance for a first grand slam elude him again. After putting the tough but unimaginative Austrian Jurgen Melzer away 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 in an hour and 44 minutes on Rod Laver Arena today, he was more buoyant than he has been for some time. This really could be his time. Nadal is still shaking off the last effects of a cold that brought him down in Doha (despite assurances by his team that he had fully recovered) and Federer, on the other side of the draw, very nearly went out Gilles Simon and had a second hiccup against Tommy Robredo in the fourth round. "I feel good," Murray said. "The matches are definitely going to get tougher. I'm not expecting to go through the tournament winning matches with that scoreline. So I'm ready for that, mentally, when it does get tough." Next up on Wednesday he faces the unseeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov, who shocked everyone, including the fourth seed, Robin Soderling, when he advanced with a scintillating performance against the Swede, coming back from a disastrous start to win 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. It was the biggest upset of the tournament, one which will give the 22-year-old Ukrainian immense confidence. He is a genuine threat. Murray has now played four players of divergent styles - the hesitant Karol Beck, dismissed when he broke down in the third set, the wild and desperate Illya Marchenko, whom he bored to defeat, Guillermo García-López, whose game he knew too well and who could take only four games off him, and Melzer. Melzer – seeded 11 and who arrived in the fourth round via a couple of easy wins against outsiders then saw off the unpredictable Marcos Baghdatis (injured little finger) in three-and-a-bit sets – represented Murray's first proper test. The Scot produced his best tennis of the tournament to turn back Melzer's crude challenge, conceding just five games and 10 unforced errors. It was a quietly staggering display of controlled aggression. He has yet to play a match of two hours here, so he should be fresh, confident and happy. He'd beaten his previous opponents with a mix of defence and guile; here he added the attacking game his critics have been clamouring for. Murray's grinding concentration, his unimpeachable reliability in defense and workmanlike efficiency in attack, were too much for the intense Melzer. The Austrian lived on the edge; Murray lived on the baseline, drawing his man on to the punch at the baseline, before passing, either side. "Like the first few matches, I started hitting the ball very cleanly right from the beginning," Murray said. The Austrian was helpless and hapless. Frustrated that Murray could absorb his biggest power shots, he soon ran out of ideas at patience. He belted the court with his racket more convincingly than he did the ball. At the start of the second set, Murray's concentration lapsed briefly and he was three break points down. But he clawed them back in a manner that drove Melzer to distraction, the first with a wondrous passing shot, the second through Melzer belting a forehand horribly wide, the third with a wide 206kph (128mph) ace. Melzer let loose in one of his three languages after getting dragged back to deuce and there was a brief stare-off. "Come on!" Murray yelled when he ground out the next point. Melzer hit long again and the opportunity had passed. It encapsulated the match and the players. Murray held with ease, ditto for the break and 6-1. This was the world No5 playing like the world No1. The third set went with serve as Melzer dug in, until Murray broke him in the fourth game the and stretched it out to the finish. It was, in the end, a stroll to 6-1 in 29 minutes that seemed a lot less. His challenge against Dolgopolov will be to switch mind-set and possibly tactics yet again. The Ukrainian is more like Marchenko, full of vim and fire but much smarter. What he did to Soderling will leave a scar on the Swede for a little while yet. Murray has played Dolgopolov once, four years ago on clay in the Davis Cup in Ukraine, and won in three sets. "He's got a very unorthodox game," Murray said, "very different to most of the guys on the tour. He's starting to put everything together, taking chances. "He has a game that can make you play strange shots, so you need to play as solid as you can against him. If you start playing inconsistent tennis, that's when he plays his best. But, if you can keep making a lot of balls, chase everything down, not give him many free points, he can start to miss. But he played well today." Dolgopolov has huge respect for Murray. "It will be a tough, physical match," he said, "because he stays in the rallies. He sees the ball so well. It's tough to play winners against him. He doesn't give you any cheap points. I just watched the first set. He had two unforced errors. "If you start to play slow, he starts to bring up the rhythm and play winners. If you risk too much, you miss. He's an uncomfortable player to play."