MELBOURNE: Kei Nishikori knows stopping Roger Federer will be a tough ask, despite only watching only a few points as the Swiss rolled back the years with a sensational 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 destruction of Tomas Berdych.
"For sure it's not going to be easy. He was playing great tennis today. I watched only few points," said the Japanese fifth seed, after beating Lukas Lacko to reach the last 16.
Seventeenth seed Federer smiled when asked if Nishikori was the favourite due to his higher ranking, smiled: "Yeah, sure, he's the favourite. Maybe. I don't know. It doesn't matter. I still have to play Kei. If he's the favourite, I'm the favourite, I don't know. But he's definitely played better and more tennis in recent months."
Nishikori, is gunning for his first major title and has won two of his six matches against the Grand Slam titles record-holder Federer.