Melbourne, January 20:

Martina Hingis easily reached the fourth round of the Australian Open. Hingis’ 6-2, 6-1 victory over Japan’s Aiko Nakamura came on a day when Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters, Rafael Nadal and Nikolay Davydenko raced to quick victories.

No 5 James Blake had a 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-2 win over fellow American Robby Ginepri. He will meet 10th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, who ousted Lleyton Hewitt, the last Australian left in the tournament, 6-2, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.

The 19th-seeded Hewitt, a former Wimbledon and US Open champion who was desperate to win his home Grand Slam, has been fighting back from injuries, and his coach quit less than two weeks before the tournament.

Nadal, the second-seed Spaniard, beat No 31 Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. Nadal, who has spent a record 78 weeks ranked No 2 behind Roger Federer, was rarely challenged by Stanislas Wawrinka.

Nadal next faces 15th-seeded Andy Murray of Britain, who ousted Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela in straight sets.

Eighth-seeded David Nalbandian ousted France’s Sebastien Grosjean. Third-seeded Nikolay Davydenko needed only 2 hours to beat Fabrice Santoro.

Clijsters finished off Alona Bondarenko 6-2, 6-2 in exactly an hour. Top-seeded Sharapova beat No 30 Tathiana Garbin 6-3, 6-1. Sharapova was broken in two of her first three service games.

Then she found the range and was ripping winners allowing Garbin only one game the rest of the way. Her next match is against fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva, seeded 22nd, who upset No 13 Ana Ivanovic.