Tennys Sandgren, one of the feel-good stories of the Australian Open, continued his surprise run into the quarter-finals on Monday night. Having failed to convert one match point opportunity at 6/5 in the fourth set tie-break, the American could easily have folded, but he held his nerve in the deciding set to record a 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-7(7), 6-3 victory over World No. 5 Dominic Thiem of Austria. Sandgren is the first player since Alexandr Dolgopolov in 2011 to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals on his main-draw debut. Having broken into the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings for the first time in September 2017, the World No. 97 – in his eighth season as a pro – will now...
Marcelo Melo and Lukasz Kubot advanced to the Australian Open quarter-finals after coming from a set down to beat 16th seeds Rajeev Ram and Divij Sharan 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 on Monday. The World No.1 pairing, who had not dropped a set heading into their third-round encounter, found themselves a set down and points from defeat, entering a second set tie-break. The Polish-Brazilian duo produced their best level at the most crucial moment to force a decider, before sealing their place in the last eight after two hours and 12 minutes with a single break of serve and a hold to love in their final service game. The Sydney International champions, unbeaten in 2018, will face Ben Mclachlan and Jan-Lennard Struff...
Like player, like coach. In 2002, Roger Federer beat Attila Savolt in the second round of the Australian Open. On Monday, Federer knocked out Hungary's Marton Fucsovics, who's coached by Savolt, to reach his 14th Australian Open quarter-finals 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-2. Federer has now won 12 consecutive sets as he looks to stay on track to defend his Australian Open title. He made a bit of history as well on Monday. The 36-year-old Federer became the oldest man to reach the Melbourne quarter-finals since Ken Rosewall (43 years, 59 days) in December 1977, and Federer extended his Open Era record by reaching his 52nd Grand Slam quarter-finals. [ALSO LIKE] The second seed will next face Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals....
“Mr. Consistent” has lived up to his name yet again at the Australian Open. Tomas Berdych, who has finished in the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings for 12 consecutive seasons, reached his seventh quarter-final in Melbourne on Monday. The 19th-seeded Czech avoided a dogfight with Italian Fabio Fognini, defeating the 25th seed 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the last eight. “I'm enjoying it a lot,” said Berdych, who struggled with a lower back problem in 2017. “I'm glad to be back in the shape that I am right now, which is finally healthy and that makes the difference. I can play freely, I can have joy from my tennis [and] I can enjoy the time being on court....
Call them the comeback kings. For the third straight match, sixth seeds and six-time champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan battled from a set down to advance at the Australian Open. On Sunday, the American twins prevailed 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 6-3 over French duo Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin, needing two hours and five minutes to advance to the quarter-finals. Winners at Melbourne Park in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013, the Bryans are making their 19th consecutive appearance at the first Grand Slam of the year. The Americans have defeated three unseeded teams to reach the last eight, but each encounter was far from straightforward. They stormed back from 5-7, 4-4 0/40 down to defeat Marton Fucsovics and Yoshihito...
