Rafael Nadal has overcome a shaky serve and a second-set wobble to see off Fabio Fognini in straight sets and progress to his 13th Australian Open quarter-final.
After winning the first set, Nadal slumped to a 4-2 deficit in the second before reeling off four consecutive games to set up the 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory on Monday.
Nadal is gunning for a record 21st major and is now into his 43rd career grand slam quarter-final, with the back injury that ruled him out of the ATP Cup now looking like a distant memory.
"When you go on court, in (the) round of 16 against a great player like Fabio, you've got to worry every moment," Nadal said.
"But at the same time you can't expect to go on court and (not) have problems during the match, facing these kinds of players."
Nadal will next face the winner of Monday night's match between fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and ninth seed Matteo Berrettini.
"Both of them are young, strong and with a lot of energy - so it's going to be a big challenge," Nadal said.
"I'm happy to be through today, it's an important victory for my confidence."
Nadal got the early jump on Fognini, cruising out to a 3-0 first-set lead - and while the pair then traded breaks, the Spaniard served out the opening set.
Fognini would be left to rue his failure to capitalise on breaking Nadal and earning a 4-2 lead in the second set.
But as quickly as the 33-year-old Italian opened the door for a comeback, Nadal slammed it shut.
The world No.2 immediately broke back, then defended another three break points while trailing 4-3 - holding serve then winning the next two games to seal the set.
The final set was a far more straight-forward affair, with Nadal breaking Fognini early and kicking on from there to leave the Italian wondering what might have been.
