Fourth seed Stan Wawrinka survived a tight battle against Andreas Seppi on Sunday at the Australian Open in Melbourne, moving into the quarter-finals with a 7-6(2), 7-6(4), 7-6(4) win on Margaret Court Arena. "I think this match was the best match of the tournament so far," said Wawrinka, who was taken to five sets by Martin Klizan in the first round. "I know that my level is there, that physically I'm feeling good. So most important is to win, to still be in the tournament. "I'm really happy to make the quarter-finals again. It's a big result. I'm going to enjoy tonight and get ready for the next one." Both players lost their serve once in the opening set, but...
The fairytale run continued for Mischa Zverev as he produced a bold display of tennis on Sunday, breaking top seed Andy Murray eight times to post a shocking 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 victory in the fourth round of the Australian Open in Melbourne. "It was definitely the best match of my life," said Zverev. "Not only because it was a best-of-five set match, it was at a slam. It was just incredible." It was an inspired serve-and-volley performance from Zverev, who had watched from the player box as his younger brother, Alexander Zverev, pushed Rafael Nadal to five sets on Saturday. With the win, Mischa Zverev moves into his first Grand Slam quarter-final. He now plays No. 17 seed Roger...
Top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut saved three match points on Sunday to move into the doubles quarter-finals at the Australian Open, while local wild card pairings Marc Polmans/Andrew Whittington and Alex Bolt/Bradley Mousley delighted the home crowd by also reaching the last eight. Herbert/Mahut were perilously close to defeat with No. 16 seeds Dominic Inglot/Florin Mergea holding three match points on their serve at 5-4 in the second set, but the French pair fought them off to grab the break and took control of the match to prevail 2-6, 7-5, 6-2. The top seeds are looking for their first title in Melbourne, having previously finished runner-up here in 2015 (l. Bolelli/Fognini). Next up for them are Polmans/Whittington, who continued their...
Grigor Dimitrov was eager to avoid a late-night marathon at the Australian Open on Saturday, dispatching 18th seed Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in two hours and two minutes to advance to the fourth round. After Rafael Nadal's five-set victory over Alexander Zverev extended the day session on Rod Laver Arena, Dimitrov and Gasquet didn't get underway until 11:58 p.m. local time in Melbourne. The seventh battle between two of the more majestic one-handed backhands on tour would go the way of the Bulgarian in convincing fashion. He fired 48 winners, including 11 aces, while turning aside six of seven break points faced. He continued his impressive start to the season, remaining undefeated (8-0) after lifting his fifth ATP World...
The home nation will be well-represented in the third round of the Australian Open doubles draw, as Sam Groth and Chris Guccione stunned 10th seeds Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi 7-6(10), 7-6(5) on Saturday at Melbourne Park. The unseeded duo, winners of two ATP World Tour titles together, join the Aussie wild card teams of Marc Polmans/Andrew Whittington and Alex Bolt/Bradley Mousley in the Round of 16. Groth and Guccione needed just under two hours to move on, launching 17 aces, while saving all three break points faced. For Groth, it is the 29 year old's third straight appearance in the doubles Round of 16 at Melbourne Park, having advanced as far with Eric Butorac in 2015 and Lleyton Hewitt...