Nadal through to round four in Melbourne
Svitolina reaches fourth round, ends 15-year-old Kostyuk’s run; Dimitrov battles past Rublev
>> MELBOURNE: Rafael Nadal stormed into the round of 16 at the Australian Open yesterday with a vintage performance as Grigor Dimitrov and Elina Svitolina kept their Grand Slam hopes alive on a hot draining day.
The Spanish world No.1 showed no mercy to 28th seed Damir Dzumhur on Margaret Court Arena, as he rediscovers his best form after ankle trouble.
The top seed raced through the match in just 1hr 50min, wasting as little energy as possible in the 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 rout.
“I was very, very focused,” Nadal said. “I’m very happy with everything and to have another chance on Sunday.”
That chance will be against 24th seeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman for a place in the quarter-finals.
Third seed Dimitrov, who could meet Nadal in the semis, had plenty to prove after a huge second-round fright from a qualifier, who pushed him to five sets.
And the Bulgarian delivered in a testing 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Russian rising star Andrey Rublev as temperatures touched 40C.
“These are the most important matches for me, when things are not working for me and I find a way,” he said. “I’m feeling good physically, the heat didn’t scare me at all today, so that’s a good sign.”
Marin Cilic has reached t he fourth round of the Australian Open for the first time in seven years with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) win over Ryan Harrison.
The sixth-seeded Cilic made the round of 16 at Melbourne Park for four straight years from 2008-11, including a run to the semifinals in 2010, but hasn’t returned since.
Cilic next faces 10th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Fourth seed Svitolina also kept her title dreams alive by ending the hopes of young teenage pretender Marta Kostyuk.
At just 15, Kostyuk was the youngest Melbourne Park third-round contestant since Martina Hingis in 1996, and was hailed after her previous win as “the future oftennis”.
But she still has a lot to learn with fellow Ukrainian Svitolina handing out a 6-2, 6-2 lesson.
“She’s definitely got a bright future,” said Svitolina, adding: “It’s very special for me to get past the third round.”
She next plays another qualifier — big-serving Czech Denisa Allertova who romped past Magda Linette 6-1, 6-4 — for a place in the quarter-finals.
In a tournament shorn of seeds, 81st ranked Petra Martic also swept into the round of 16, celebrating her 27th birthday by holding off a gritty three-set challenge from Thai qualifier Luksika Kumkhum.
Her reward is a match against Belgium’s Elise Mertens, who beat struggling Alize Cornet of France in two tough sets.
Cornet was among players wilting in the heat, with a doctor taking her blood pressure early in the second set as she succumbed to the baking weather.
No matches have been called off or roofs closed at the opening Grand Slam of the year despite the soaring temperatures, with tournament organiser Craig Tiley defending the decision.
“These are professional athletes,” he said.
“We are at the end of the day an outdoor event. We want it to stay an outdoor event as long as possible but at the same time ensuring that the health and wellbeing of players is taken care of.”
Organisers only activate t he extreme heat policy when the temperature exceeds 40C and the wet bulb globe temperature index hits 32.5C.
Kyle Edmund joined Nadal in the round of 16, overcoming the elements in a fighting five-set win over Nikoloz Basilashvili and will next play Italian Andreas Seppi who won a battle of the veterans against Croatia’s 38-year-old Ivo Karlovic.
Spanish 10th seed Pablo Carreno Busta, a semi-finalist at last year’s US Open, also marched on.
KYRGIOS DOWNS IDOL TSONGA
Nick Kyrgios toppled his childhood idol Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a tense clash to reach the fourth round yesterday and raise home fans’ hopes of a first men’s champion in 42 years.
Away from the raucous atmosphere of his favoured Hisense Arena, the tempestuous Australian showed impressive composure in the tiebreaks to beat former finalist Tsonga 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5) under the lights of Rod Laver Arena.
Tsonga, the 15th seed, had looked primed to take the fight into a fifth set when he stormed to a 4-1 lead in the final tie-break, but Kyrgios roared back to seal it when the Frenchman hammered the ball into the net on the first match point.
Kyrgios will next face third seed Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the quarter-finals, the man he beat in the last four of the Brisbane International this month.
“It was amazing, I’d never won a match on this court coming here,” Kyrgios said in the post-match interview on court. “Playing Jo, obviously I was very nervous. I was just happy to get through and you guys were amazing tonight.”
OSTAPENKO SUNK
French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko’s Australian Open hopes ended yesterday as the seventh seed was beaten 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 by Anett Kontaveit in a battle of the Baltic.
Latvian Ostapenko produced her usual brand of gung-ho tennis but Estonian Kontaveit weathered the storm to take her place in the fourth round in Melbourne for the first time.
Ostapenko, playing with a heavily bandaged thigh, dominated the second set but was unable to sustain her level.
The players traded breaks early in the deciding set but the 22-year-old Kontaveit outlasted her opponent in marathon seventh game, thumping a weak second serve for a backhand winner on her fifth break point to seize the advantage again.
After holding serve, 32nd seed Kontaveit sealed victory when an Ostapenko forehand thumped into the net.