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MELBOURNE – Seventh seeded American Andy Roddick was in ominous form as he downed Spaniard Tommy Robredo 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals on Sunday.

Playing on the Hisense Arena for the third match in a row, Roddick battled out a tight first set then steamrolled his Spanish opponent in the second and third sets to send out a warning to his rivals.

"I didn't start off great, and then I thought the second and third sets were a lot better," Roddick said.

"Which is, I guess, the direction you want to go in."

The American has been in great form at this year's tournament, dropping only one set on his way to the last eight, against Belgium's Xavier Malisse in the second round.

Roddick blasted 13 aces against Robredo and won 84 percent of his first serves to have the Spanish player on the back foot throughout the match.

He broke Robredo five times and wasn't broken once -- the Spaniard only had one break point over the three sets.

"I don't know that I've had a bad day against him," Roddick said.

"I feel like I always come off the court having played pretty well."

Roddick's quarter-final appearance equals his best Grand Slam performance of what was for him a disappointing 2008.

He now plays either defending champion Novak Djokovic or 2006 runner-up and crowd favourite Marcos Baghdatis for a place in the semi-finals.

He said it didn't really matter to him who he played.

"Yeah, I mean, it's pretty similar," he said.

"I think Novak is probably a little bit steadier where Marcos is a little bit more of a shot maker, maybe takes some more risks.

"But they're both great players and both obviously extremely comfortable at this tournament.

"They both have had their career tournaments here, so either way, I'll be up against it."

Asked about playing his matches on the Hisense court and not the main Rod Laver Arena the former world number one was diplomatic.

"You know what, I'm coming into this tournament and I'm not one of the guys that have to make a priority in the schedule right now -- I understand that," he said.

"The other guys have deserved that spot so, I'm not ... I certainly don't feel like I'm entitled to anything.

"I just have to go back to work wherever it is."