Australian Open: Defending champion Stan Wawrinka into last 16

Melbourne: Defending champion Stan Wawrinka reached the fourth round of the Australian Open with a straight sets win over Finland`s Jarkko Nieminen on Saturday.

The Swiss fourth seed cruised through 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in 1hr 49min on Rod Laver Arena and will play Spain`s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the round of 16.

Wawrinka was always in control of his first match with the 72nd-ranked Finn in four years and broke Nieminen`s serve six times and hit 55 winners.

Wawrinka, who is now the main Swiss contender at this year`s Open following Roger Federer`s shock defeat to Andreas Seppi on Friday, was pleased with his progress at the tournament.

"I`m really happy with my game so far, I think today was a really good match," he said.

"I was aggressive on the court, it was in quite fast conditions and I took control of the match.

"It`s been three really good matches, I think my game is there and I`m really happy to get through again."

Wawrinka said he was looking forward to playing Garcia-Lopez after a "tough loss" to him in the fourth round at last year`s French Open.