Stan Wawrinka rallies to beat Medvedev; Thiem cruises Halep, Muguruza storm into last 8

MELBOURNE: Former champion Stan Wawrinka battled past Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev in five sets to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals with a 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 victory on Monday.

Medvedev came into the contest having won both their career meetings at Grand Slams in four sets but the 2014 Australian Open champion took the opening set with a double break of the Russian’s serve.

Medvedev, who lost to Rafa Nadal in five sets in last year’s U.S. Open final, levelled the contest by breaking Wawrinka twice in the second and nosed ahead in the match with a break in the seventh game of the third.

But Wawrinka refused to yield and took the fourth set tiebreaker comfortably before breaking Medvedev twice in the fifth to set up a quarter-final against either German seventh seed Alexander Zverev or 17th seed Andrey Rublev of Russia.

Thiem sails past Monfils

Fifth seed Dominic Thiem kept his flawless record against Gael Monfils intact with a trouble-free 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 victory to reach his maiden Australian Open quarter-final. Thiem, twice a French Open finalist, came into the fourth-round clash against the 10th seed having won all five of the matches they have previously played and did not face a single breakpoint against the Frenchman on the Rod Laver Arena. Thiem, who lost to Rafael Nadal both times in the title match at Roland Garros, converted four of his 14 breakpoint chances and hit 31 winners to seal the contest.

Monfils surprised Thiem with an underarm serve in the second set, which the Austrian was unable to return, but the world number five managed to chase down most of the drop shots that the Frenchman employed against him.

The 26-year-old will meet top seed Nadal for a place in the semi-finals.

Halep beats Mertens to advance

Simona Halep had to be at her counter-punching best to see off a determined second-set comeback from Elise Mertens as the Romanian world number three advanced to the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-4 victory.

Halep, a beaten finalist at Melbourne Park two years ago, will next Estonia’s 28th-seed Anett Kontaveit.

Mertens, who beat Halep in the Doha final last year, blasted bags of winners but also made 38 unforced errors as Halep chased down every ball and made the Belgian work for every point.

Muguruza powers past Bertens

Garbine Muguruza powered into quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-3 demolition of ninth-seed Kiki Bertens in just 68 minutes. Muguruza, a former French Open and Wimbledon champion, was unseeded at Melbourne Park and has proved a dangerous floater in the draw, having also thrashed fifth seed Elina Svitolina 6-1 6-2 in the previous round.

She broke Bertens five times throughout the match, including in the final game, and clinched a quarter-final with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova when she blasted a forehand winner down the line.

Pavlyuchenkova ousts former champion Kerber

Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova stayed brave in the face of a spirited fightback from former champion Angelique Kerber to move into the last 8 stage with a 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-2 win.

German 17th seed Kerber rallied from 5-2 down and a 3-0 deficit in the tiebreaker to win the opening set against Pavlyuchenkova, who hit an incredible 28 winners to 12 unforced errors but still found herself trailing in the match. The second set had a similar pattern as three-time Grand Slam winner Kerber saved three set points to force a tiebreaker but the Russian 30th seed would not let the chance slip this time and levelled the match with a booming backhand winner. Kerber finally ran out of gas as Pavlyuchenkova broke the 2016 winner three times in the decider.

Kontaveit holds off

teenager Swiatek

Anett Kontaveit fought off a spirited challenge from Polish teenager Iga Swiatek to reach her first Grand Slam quarter-final with a 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-5 victory. The Estonian 28th seed saved 12 break points in a see-saw contest on Melbourne Arena as she battled back from a set down to book a last eight meeting with twice Grand Slam champion Simona Halep.

Swiatek, who mixed 42 winners with 51 unforced errors as she looked to become the youngest quarter-finalist at Melbourne Park since 2007, was not done yet, however.

Zverev ends Rublev run to reach first quarters in Melbourne

Seventh seed Alexander Zverev of Germany strolled past Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to end the Russian’s 15-match winning streak and book his maiden quarter-final spot.

Rublev arrived in Melbourne having won titles in Doha and Adelaide at the start of the season while he also won all four singles matches he contested at the season-ending Davis Cup Finals in November.

But the German put in a clinical performance, breaking his opponent’s serve once in each set while not facing a single breakpoint of his own, to complete the win in straight sets.

Zverev served 11 aces and hit his 34th winner to complete the win and set up a quarter-final clash against former champion Stanislas Wawrinka. Agencies

Also Read: Stan Wawrinka beats Slovenian Aljaz Bedene to reach semis

Also Watch: Historic Bodo Agreement Signed, Watch ABSU celebrating the moment in Kokrajhar