Melbourne: Rafa Nadal, Marin Cilic, Kyle Edmund and Grigor Dimitrov entered the quarterfinals in the men’s singles of the Australian Open here Sunday.
Top seed Rafa Nadal was rattled by a feisty challenge from Diego Schwartzman but held firm to fend off the diminutive Argentine 6-3, 6-7(4-7), 6-3, 6-3 and reach his 10th Australian Open quarterfinal.
In an often breathtaking clash laden with sumptuous shot-making, the Spaniard was rocked by the hard-hitting Schwartzman who broke him three times to claim the second set at Rod Laver Arena.
But the 16-times Grand Slam champion responded with typical grit, bolstering his defence to blanket the 24th seed’s firepower and counter-punching brilliantly to book a match with Croatia’s Marin Cilic. The victory ensured Nadal, who lost a five-set classic to long-time rival Roger Federer in the final last year, will retain his World No.1 ranking.
Former US Open champion Marin Cilic downed Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 6-7(2-7), 6-3, 7-6(6-0), 7-6(7-3). In an entertaining baseline duel, sixth seed Cilic blew away Busta in the tie-breaks to celebrate his 100th Grand Slam win. A former semifinalist at Melbourne Park, Cilic also equalled Goran Ivanisevic’s Croatian record of 11 Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances.
Carreno Busta showed heart to rally from a break down in the fourth set and push the match into a third tiebreak but was quickly overwhelmed by Cilic’s firepower as the Croatian brought up four match points in a hurry. Cilic blew one of them by spraying a crosscourt shot wide but made no mistake on the second, hammering a huge first serve down the ‘T’ and picking off the return with a straightforward forehand winner.
Britain’s Kyle Edmund came from a set down to oust Italian Andreas Seppi 7-6(7-4), 7-5, 6-2, 6-3.The only Briton in the men’s draw in the absence of the injured Andy Murray, smashed 63 winners to progress to a last eight meeting.
Edmund also fired down 25 aces to tame the neat Italian but it was the thumping winners, particularly off his forehand, that proved decisive after he had reduced the error count that marred his display in the first set.
Bulgarian Dimitrov however had a tough time before overcoming local favorite Nick Kyrgios 7-6(7-3), 7-6(7-4), 4-6, 7-6(7-4) later in the day to set-up his next round clash with Edmund.
Mixed fortunes
Indian pair of veteran Leander Paes and Purav Raja Sunday crashed out in the men’s doubles event even as Rohan Bopanna and his Hungarian partner Timea Babos outplayed their opponents to progress to the mixed doubles pre-quarterfinals at the Australian Open. Bopanna and Babos dispatched the unseeded Australian pairing of Andrew Whittington and Ellen Perez 6-2, 6-4. Paes and Raja suffered a straight-set defeat at the hands of the Colombian pair of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 1-6, 2-6.
At a glance
Rafael Nadal bt Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-7(4-7), 6-3, 6-3
Marin Cilic bt Pablo Carreno Busta 6-7(2-7), 6-3, 7-6(6-0), 7-6(7-3)
Kyle Edmund bt Andreas Seppi 7-6(7-4), 7-5, 6-2, 6-3
Grigor Dimitrov bt Nick Kyrgios 7-6(7-3), 7-6(7-4), 4-6, 7-6(7-4)
Agencies
