MELBOURNE, Australia (AP):

Being a favourite with the British bookmakers worked against Andy Murray at the Australian Open.

No. 14 Fernando Verdasco of Spain rallied to beat the 21-year-old Scot 2-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 yesterday to reach the quarter-finals at the season's first major.

The fourth-seeded Murray saved two match points after falling behind 40-0 in the last game, but was not able to fend off a third, dumping a backhand into the net.

Murray, who lost in the United States (US) Open final last year to Roger Federer, was attempting to become the first British man since 1936 to win a Grand Slam singles title.

After recent wins over No. 1-ranked Rafael Nadal and No. 2 Federer, Murray had become a favourite to beat them both for the Australian title.

Expectations

"I don't know if I'll be the favourite for a Slam in the next year or so after today," Murray said, responding to questions about the extra pressure of expectations. "But it doesn't really bother me.

"If I'm the favourite to win, whatever, I play the same as I am when I'm the underdog."

Verdasco, a key player in Spain's Davis Cup final triumph in Argentina, next plays Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who ousted American James Blake 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

Verdasco saved two break points in the pivotal sixth game of the fifth set, firing aces when he needed them and forcing errors from the other side. He broke Murray in the subsequent game to compound the advantage.

"I was feeling confident and fit," Verdasco said. "I just tried to play my game."

His fellow Spaniard Nadal's 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over 2007 runner-up Fernando Gonzalez was the first on centre court yesterday to be fully completed.

The two previous fourth-round matches on Rod Laver Arena were cut short when players retired with illness or injuries. A third match was over quickly, with Svetlana Kuznetsova's win over Zheng Jie on Hisense Arena lasting five games before the Chinese player retired with an injured left wrist.

Vomiting virus

Second-seeded Serena Williams lost the first set to Victoria Azarenka but was up a break in the second when her tearful and dizzy rival from Belarus had to quit because of a vomiting virus.

"Honestly, I got worried," Williams said. "She started walking really slow. The last thing she would want to do, to me, would be fall. It was just weird. I was actually really worried."

In the opening match on centre court, No. 6 Gilles Simon was leading 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 when his friend and fellow Frenchman, Gael Monfils, retired with a right wrist problem.

That brought top-ranked Nadal and Gonzalez on earlier than expected to determine who would meet Simon in the next round.

Nadal ran off 12 of the first 13 points and broke Gonzalez twice in the first set en route to his third quarter-final appearance at Melbourne Park in his last three trips. The 22-year-old Spaniard went down a break in the third set but rallied to win five straight games and six of the last seven.

Difficult third-round

Gonzalez, who beat Nadal here in the quarter-finals on his run to the final two years ago, was coming off a difficult third-round win, when he rallied from two sets down to beat Richard Gasquet 12-10 in the fifth.

Matches early yesterday were over surprisingly quickly, considering conditions were sunny and mild with temperatures around 25C (77F).

Williams was up a service break at 4-2 in the second set after No. 13 Azarenka had won the first set 6-3.

Azarenka, serving at 30-30, wobbled back into the shade at the rear of the court, holding her face and choking back tears as she tried to regather herself.

She needed a medical timeout earlier in the set and left the playing arena. She returned for 1-1/2 games but was unable to continue and was helped from the court soon after by two trainers.

"The doctors didn't want me to keep going, but I wanted to keep trying and see how I do," she said. "But it was probably not a very good idea because it just gave me even more trouble after."

Disappointing

Azarenka said she'd been feeling sick all morning.

"I woke up at 6 a.m. and I was throwing up all the morning and just felt weak," she said. "Once I got to the court, I went to see the doctor, I felt a little bit better.

"It's very disappointing for me that I played that well and I couldn't handle a little bit more because it was really close games."

Williams, seeking a 10th Grand Slam singles title, next plays 2004 US Open champion Kuznetsova, the only major winner still in the women's draw.

The winners of yesterday's two completed women's matches meet in the quarter-finals.

Carla Suarez Navarro, the 20-year-old Spaniard who had an upset win over seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams in the second round, beat No. 21 Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 6-2.

Olympic gold medallist Elena Dementieva made the quarter-finals for the first time in 11 years at Melbourne Park with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova.