Tsonga hammered as Nishikori heads for quarter final

The seventh seed hit 31 winners and sealed his place in the last eight when Tsonga, seeded ninth, made his 36th unforced error by slashing a forehand wide to end the 122-minute contest.

Tsonga started strongly, but once he lost his serve, Nishikori began to run away with the first set. The Frenchman responded quite forcibly, looking to get Nishikori on the back foot but failed to arrest the lead the world number seven had.

Nishikori took the second with ease, as Tsonga's desperation caught up with him in the form of a string of unforced errors and double faults. The final set had the Frenchman determined to put up a fight and extend it out to five, but Nishikori remained calm and took care of Tsonga with some confident and strategic play.

Nishikori, who was beaten on both his previous visits to the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park, will next face reigning champion Novak Djokovic or Gilles Simon.

The former U.S. Open finalist's victory avenged his defeat to Tsonga, runner up at Melbourne Park in 2008, in a five-set thriller at the French Open last year.