Tomic slams 'ridiculous' scheduling; Nadal won't take Berdych lightly

Bernard Tomic bowed out of the Australian Open fourth round on Sunday with a stinging rebuke of the scheduling following his straight sets defeat by Tomas Berdych.

Aus Open PHOTOS: Nadal sails into quarters; Bouchard, Berdych advance

Battle of Beauties: Bouchard ready to be tested by Sharapova

Tomic played his last match on the second show court at Margaret Court Arena, while Rafael Nadal defeated South African Kevin Anderson at Rod Laver Arena's centre court.

Organisers have been criticised in the past for putting local players in the prime-time spots in the evening, but couldn't be accused of that on Sunday, with Nick Kyrgios playing a twilight match against Andreas Seppi on Margaret Court Arena.

Former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Tomic has generally enjoyed centre court treatment at his home Grand Slam but this year has been relegated to lesser courts.

"I spoke to a few people about it. Lleyton as well," 22-year-old Tomic told reporters, referring to Australia's two-time Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt, who was knocked out in the second round at Rod Laver Arena.

"I think the scheduling was like ridiculous this year. Like not just from my side, but for many players. I don't know who was in charge of the schedule. Really, some of the matches I saw, it was just like, 'Wow'.

"I didn't mind (my own matches), but some of the other matches I saw I was like, 'what the hell?'"

"From what I heard in the locker room, and not just myself, like the scheduling was a bit funny.

"I'm not going to complain from my side, but on behalf of the people I talked to, they say it as well. It's not just me saying it."

When asked for comment, organisers referred to Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley's comments earlier in the week on scheduling.

"Our feedback tells us that we get it right more often than not," Tiley said.

Today is a day to be happy, says encouraged Nadal

Rafael Nadal savoured the best win of his campaign at Melbourne Park in felling South African Kevin Anderson 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 to storm into the Australian Open quarter-finals on Sunday but was reticent to talk up his chances of a 15th Grand Slam title.

On the comeback trail after illness and injury, the Spanish third seed wrote off his chances in the lead-up but now finds himself in the last eight with energy to spare after needing little more than two hours to despatch the 6ft-8in (2.03 metre) Anderson on a cloudy day at Rod Laver Arena.

Nadal will play Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych for a place in the semi-finals, and will surely feel confident against a man he has beaten in their last 18 encounters.

"(Berdych) is playing great. Will be a very tough opponent, no?" Nadal told reporters.

"But for me, quarter-finals is a great result, talking seriously. Arriving here, losing in the first round of Qatar, not playing matches for the last seven months, to have the chance to be in quarter-finals again here is a very positive thing for me.

"I try to play better and better every day. If that happens, I hope to keep having chances for the next match.

"But today is a day to be happy the way that I improved my level of everything... all the things I have to do on court."

Nadal had to weather an early serving storm from 14th seed Anderson and was forced on the back foot by his rangy opponent at 5-5 in the first set, who prised five break points from the Spaniard in the 11th game.

Nadal would save them all by mixing a string of crunching serves with forehand winners, rattling Anderson who was promptly broken in the next game when he dunked a regulation volley in to the net.

"So (I) just tried to play with the right decision, right determination, and I did. Worked well. But sometimes works well, sometimes doesn't," Nadal said.

From there, Nadal completed an eight-game tear to take complete control of the contest and after an early break in the third set, cruised to victory, preserving himself for a possibly tougher encounter against hard-hitting Berdych.

"Doesn't matter what happened in the past. It's a different story this time," said the Spaniard. "Different moment for me; different moment for him.

"He's a great player. I have success against him, but I have (had) the chances to lose against him."