With the fireworks alighting the Melbourne night sky on Australia's national holiday, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray matched the nocturnal pyrotechnics with a kinetic display of their own, engaging in a riveting quarterfinal encounter on Tuesday night but the drama and tension were regrettably cut short as Nadal had to stop the match with a knee injury at the start of the third set with Murray leading 3-0. The Scot had had won the first two sets 6-3 and 7-6.

One can only hope that Nadal's fragile knee only causes a temporary leave from the tour. The Man From Mallorca had to miss Wimbledon in 2009 with the onset of knee tendonitis and since that time he has struggled mightily to regain his previous dominating form.

Yet though he had only one victory in this last eleven matches against Top 10 competition, Nadal looked near his definitive best self tonight against Murray, even thought he dropped the opening sets.

It was Murray's ability to break Nadal after Rafa had seized the lead that proved the difference tonight. In both the first and second set, Nadal jumped to early leads with breaks but on each occasion Murray was able to wrest back control by breaking in the following game. Additionally, Murray's intelligent serving game kept Rafa off balance. For his part, Nadal did take his game to Murray and thundered several 100mph forehands that stunned the fifth seed. Yet Murray was able to withstand the assault and never wavered from his game plan.

Before the hugely disappointing and abrupt denouement to the match, the turning point was the eternal - lasting an hour an fifteen minutes - second set. Trading athletic, powerful and varied strokes from all corners of the court, both players were making sure the match lived up to the hype - when the draw was revealed, this was perhaps the most anticipated tussle of the fortnight.

With Nadal serving at 4-2 in that electrifying second stanza, Murray's decision to maintain his aggression against the tenacious Spaniard was crucial in not ceding that ever elusive and important substance known as momentum. Murray came in with a weak history against Nadal - winning only two of their nine matches - and the fact that he didn't wilt when faced with in-the-moment adversity is a testament to the newfound mental and emotional strength of the moody Scot.

Though Murray had taken a two set lead and was likely on his way to victory, one can never be sure of such against Nadal. The cliché of "losing the battle but winning the war" is most appropriate when applied to Nadal as he is often able to inflict damage even when losing a set, draining energy and focus from his opponent.

To Murray's credit he never let up and perhaps most encouraging for his fans and admirers, he also proved he could win on his terms - playing the counter puncher and only occasional aggressor against the commanding defensive game that Nadal possesses. This is a rare feat indeed as usually it takes a strategy of purely overpowering the world number two - as Del Potro accomplished at last year's US Open - to rob Nadal of his iron grip in big moment matches.

Without question Murray will be a prohibitive favorite against the sure to be enervated Marin Cilic. The 14th seeded - and that ranking will sure skyrocket in the coming months - Bosnian once again pushed himself to the limit when he defeated Andy Roddick earlier in the day in five sets.

Nearly blowing a two-sets-to-one lead, Cilic redoubled his efforts in the fifth and inflicted yet more heartbreak for Roddick. Roddick is now 12-15 all time in five set matches and one can only wonder - especially after his anguish in losing that epic to The Roger at Wimbledon last year - whether Roddick is too tentative in the critical moments late in matches. Once again on Wednesday, the top American player reverted to his conservative style in the final moments that let Cilic, who looked like a beaten man when facing a 0-40 deficit in the opening game of that fifth set, believe he could win.