Nadal has Gonzalez in his sights in Melbourne

Melbourne: Spain's Rafa Nadal is a monster on court but the softest-spoken of gentleman off it.

As mild-mannered as he is, he could be forgiven if he has Australian Open revenge on his mind ahead of Monday's fourth round clash against Fernando Gonzalez.

The last time the pair clashed at Melbourne Park was in 2007 and on that occasion the Chilean walloped Nadal for the loss of just nine games 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.

It was a humbling quarter-final defeat for the left-handed powerhouse.

Since then, though, Nadal has won the pair's last three meetings to own a slight 4-3 advantage in their head-to-head record.

"Well, he beat me very easy two years ago here. So it wasn't one of my best matches. He played well," Nadal said, eyeing Monday's clash.

"He's tough. He's very good player. He can beat me, for sure, another time. Hopefully not. But I gonna try my best to change the situation from two years ago... try to play the same level like last year in Olympics."

Nadal won Olympic gold in Beijing last August with a 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 win over the silver-medallist Chilean.

"This match going to be a very tough match," Nadal said.

"He's coming with big confidence after two big wins against (Lleyton) Hewitt the first round, and right now against (Richard) Gasquet with unbelievable comeback, from two sets down. He's coming with confidence. Going to be a very tough opponent."

Gonzalez was preparing by keeping his mind off the clash with the world No. 1.

"I like to be focused on the match maybe just a little bit before the match," he said.

"I don't like to think too much how I'm going to play, how he going to play. I mean, I've been playing too much matches in my career. So just try to enjoy and try to play my best."

Pre-tournament favourite Andy Murray continues his bid to become the first British men's Grand Slam champion since Fred Perry won Wimbledon and the US Open in 1936.

The fourth seed, US Open runner-up last year, takes on Spanish baseliner Fernando Verdasco.

"It will be very important to use my head," Murray said.

"I have a very good record against left handers. The only one I've lost to on the tour has been Nadal. I need to use my head, make him do a lot of thinking and moving."

Last year's runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga meets James Blake and Gilles Simon and Gael Mofils face off in an all-French battle.

In the women's draw Serena Williams continues her chase for a fourth Australian title with a fourth round match against Victoria Azarenka.

Svetlana Kuznetsova plays Zheng Jie of China, Anabel Medina Garrigues takes on Carla Suarez Navarro in an all-Spanish clash, while Elena Dementieva faces Dominika Cibulkova.