Wawrinka Through To Last 16 In Australian Open

Defending champion Stan Wawrinka has continued his unobtrusive progress in the Australian Open to book his place in the last 16.

Wawrinka has yet to drop a set in Melbourne and enjoyed another straightforward victory in the third round, beating Finland's Jarkko Nieminen 6-4 6-2 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena.

Wawrinka, who is now the main Swiss contender at this year's Open following Roger Federer's shock defeat to Andreas Seppi on Friday, was pleased with his progress at the tournament.

"I'm really happy with my game so far, I think today was a really good match," he said.

"I was aggressive on the court, it was in quite fast conditions and I took control of the match.

"It's been three really good matches, I think my game is there and I'm really happy to get through again."

The fourth seed sent down nine aces and won 90% of points behind his first serve to set up a clash with Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the fourth round.

Garcia-Lopez was a similarly comfortable winner over Canada's Vasek Pospisil, beating the world No 60 6-2 6-4 6-4 to reach the last 16 and equal his best performance in a grand slam.

Fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez continued his charmed progress through the draw with victory over Poland's Jerzy Janowicz, the 12th seed winning 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 7-6 (7-3) to set up a last-16 contest with eighth seed Milos Raonic.

Lopez saved three match points in his first-round match with wild card Denis Kudla, eventually winning the fifth set 10-8, and saved another in the second round against Adrian Mannarino.

Lopez was trailing 4-6 4-6 0-4 when Mannarino fell ill, but won the third-set tie-break and was leading 4-0 in the fourth set when his unfortunate opponent retired.

Raonic continued the theme of one-sided matches by beating Germany's Benjamin Becker - who knocked out home favourite Lleyton Hewitt in the previous round - 6-4 6-3 6-3.

The victory means Raonic has equalled his best performance at Melbourne Park after reaching the round of 16 as a qualifier in 2011.

He served at 71% and clocked a fastest serve at 225 kph (181 mph) among the many thunderbolts he hurtled down to the German.

The Canadian hit 46 winners and only 19 unforced errors, while Becker made just 21 winners.

"I feel like I am getting better each match, I'm having a lot of fun, I'm enjoying the atmosphere and I'm looking forward to keep going," said Raonic, who was the first Canadian since 1908 to reach a Grand Slam semi at Wimbledon last year.

"It's a great time for Canadian tennis, I'm grateful to be a part of it and let's keep changing those dates, let's keep breaking new records."