Australian Open 2017: Schedule, Predictions for Tuesday Melbourne Bracket

Rafael Nadal took one more step toward a return to glory with his victory over Gael Monfils in the fourth round of the Australian Open, and now the question is just how far can he go in the first Grand Slam of the year.

Nadal is not the only veteran tennis player who is trying to re-establish his championship credentials. Roger Federer may be the tournament's 17th seed, but he will take on Mischa Zverev Tuesday to see if he can get to the semifinal round.

The 2017 Australian Open has been one of the most unpredictable tournaments in years, as top seeds Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic have already dropped out of the tournament with upsets.

Nadal engaged Monfils in a match that featured two of the game's most creative players. Nadal secured a 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Monfils, and it was his first win over a top-10 player in a Grand Slam tournament since he won the French Open in 2014.

Nadal was aggressive against the athletic Monfils from the start and secured breaks early in the first two sets to take charge of the match. Monfils rallied to win the third set, but Nadal refused to give in during the fourth. After the two traded service breaks, Nadal closed out the match by winning on Monfils' serve.

"Being in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam after [a] couple of years not being there is very special for me," Nadal told reporters after the match.

Player	Player	Time (ET)	Prediction
Stan Wawrinka (4)	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (12)	11 p.m.	Wawrinka
Venus Williams (13)	Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (24)	7 p.m.	Williams
Coco Vandeweghe	Garbine Muguruza (7)	9 p.m.	Muguruza
Mischa Zverev	Roger Federer (17)	3 a.m.	Federer

Federer will try to slow down Zverev, who stopped Murray in four sets. Federer has beaten Zverev twice previously, and one of those victories was a 6-0, 6-0 triumph when the two men faced off in Halle, Germany, three years ago.

Federer defeated Kei Nishikori in five sets to reach the quarterfinal round.

On the women's side, Serena Williams advanced to the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over veteran Barbora Strycova.

Williams was not at her best, failing to convert her first seven set points in the opening set, but she stayed with it and was successful on her eighth try.

Williams is known for her dominating serve, but that part of her game was missing against Strycova. Serena was broken four times in the match and won just 53 percent of her service points.

She was upbeat after the match despite her serving difficulties, though. "It's good to know I have a Plan B, or an Option 2," Williams said, per Greg Garber of ESPN.com. "It's always good to have something to improve on, and I know I can do better on my serve."

"

Serena Williams advances to quarterfinals of Australian Open https://t.co/vSHFL9TNdy

— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) January 23, 2017"

Williams is the No. 2 seed in the tournament and appears to be in good shape to make a run at her 23rd career Grand Slam title. She has a clear path since No. 1 seed Angelique Kerber, No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 4 Simona Halep have all been eliminated.

Serena will face ninth-seeded Johanna Konta in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Venus Williams, the No. 13 seed in the tournament, meets Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals early Tuesday (Monday night at 7 p.m. ET).

Venus has been sharp throughout the tournament. She defeated Mona Barthel 6-3, 7-5 in the fourth round and has won each of her first four matches in straight sets.

If both Williams sisters win out, they will meet in the championship round of the tournament since they are on opposite sides of the draw.