MELBOURNE (Agencies) - Third seed Kim Clijsters overcame the night chill and a sluggish start to beat Russias Ekaterina Makarova 7-6 6-2 and march into the Australian Open quarter-finals on Monday. The Belgian, a three-time grand slam champion and Melbourne runner-up in 2004, sealed a tough victory a little after midnight local time with a drilled backhand crosscourt. Clijsters squandered an early break gifted to her by a nervous Makarova and was forced to a first set tiebreak, which she took 7-3 on a cold night in Melbourne. The tournament favourite resumed normal service in the second set, finding her range with her heavier ground strokes to break the Russian twice and set up a meeting with Polish 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska. Earlier, a red-hot Andy Murray destroyed Austria's Juergen Melzer 6-3 6-1, 6-1 to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals Monday, firing an emphatic title warning with a performance of pure class. Rafael Nadal beat Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 at the Australian Open on Monday to maintain his chance of owning all four Grand Slam trophies at once. The Briton produced arguably the best tennis of the tournament so far to see off Melzer in an hour and 44 minutes. Murray was cheered on from the players' box by popular Scottish comedian and actor Billy Connolly. He next plays Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov, who earlier upset fourth seed Robin Soderling. Melzer, who will rise into the world's top 10 for the first time when the next rankings are published, cursed his luck for running into a player in such devastating form. Nadal advanced to a quarterfinal against Spain's David Ferrer as he attempts to add to the Grand Slam titles he won last year at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. Nadal hasn't dropped a set through four rounds at Melbourne Park, despite carrying the effects of a virus he picked up two weeks ago in Qatar. A capacity crowd of 15,000 that included American country music star Kenny Rogers-sitting next to seven-time Grand Slam singles winner Evonne Goolagong Cawley of Australia-saw Nadal struggle at times on his serve. Nadal went ahead 4-3 on a service break in the second set, and then clinched it when Cilic, who beat American John Isner in five tough sets on Saturday, hit a forehand long. He advanced when Cilic double-faulted on match point. No. 7 David Ferrer set up a quarterfinal match against fellow Spaniard Nadal with his 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 win over 20-year-old Canadian qualifier Milos Raonic, who'd upset No. 10 Mikhail Youzhny in the third round. Soderling dominated the opening set but couldn't keep it up against Dolgopolov, who is making his fourth appearance in a major and was coming off a five-set win over former Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. In womens event, No. 2-ranked Vera Zvonareva continued her roll toward a third consecutive Grand Slam final with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Iveta Benesova. Zvonareva, who lost the Wimbledon final to Serena Williams and the U.S. Open final to Kim Clijsters last year, moved into a quarterfinal match against No. 25 Petra Kvitova, who rallied to beat No. 22 Flavia Pennetta 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska beat China's Peng Shuai 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 and will meet Clijsters.