World No. 3 Milos Raonic, the highest seed remaining at the Australian Open, secured his place in the quarter-finals for the third successive year by beating Spanish No. 13 seed Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in two hours and 51 minutes on Monday. Raonic, who hit 75 winners – including 33 aces (for a total of 93 aces at the major championship), will meet ninth seed and 2009 champion Rafael Nadal on Wednesday. Raonic trails Nadal 2-6 lifetime in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. [ALSO LIKE] “I was very fortunate to get the win today – there were some moments when it wasn't looking so good,” said Raonic, during an on-court interview. “I was happy that I was...
Grigor Dimitrov booked his place in the Australian Open quarter-finals for the second time in three years on Monday. The No. 15 seed ended the run of Novak Djokovic’s conqueror, World No. 117 and wild card Denis Istomin, 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-1 in two hours and 24 minutes at Melbourne Park. The Bulgarian remains unbeaten at 9-0 in 2017 – including winning his fifth ATP World Tour title at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp (d. Kei Nishikori). Dimitrov capitalised on a hot day in Melbourne by striking 37 winners and winning 72 per cent of his approaches to the net against Uzbekistani Istomin, who received medical treatment on several occasions for a back complaint. He will next play Belgian...
Fourth seeds Henri Kontinen/John Peers were pushed to the limit on Monday at the Australian Open in Melbourne, requiring three tie-breaks to advance into the quarter-finals. Joining them in the last eight are third seeds Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan, ninth seeds Ivan Dodig/Marcel Granollers and Aussies Sam Groth/Chris Guccione. Kontinen/Peers scored an epic 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 7-6(1) win over No. 14 seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah. There was nothing separating the two teams in the match, but the reigning ATP Finals champions won the final six points in the third-set tie-break to secure the win. Both Kontinen and Peers are now into their first quarter-final in Melbourne. Next up for them are Groth/Guccione, who delighted the local crowd with a 7-6(9), 6-3...