Top seed Rafael Nadal thrashed Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur on Friday to progress to the fourth round of the Australian Open.
The Spaniard won 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 in one hour and 50 minutes to reach the last 16, where he will face Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman, who beat Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-7 (7-1), 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.
Meanwhile, Australian Nick Kyrgios claimed an impressive 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 win over Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
‘It was amazing,’ said Kyrgios. ‘I’d never won a match on this court. I was obviously very nervous. I was getting prepared for a fifth set. I thought Jo was going to hit two first serves [to win the fourth-set tiebreak]. But I stayed composed.’
Britain’s Kyle Edmund (who knocked out South Africa’s Kevin Anderson in the first round) beat Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-6 (7-0), 3-6, 4-6, 6-0, 7-5 in a brutal three-and-a-half-hour contest played in extreme heat.
Spanish 10th seed Pablo Carreno Busta also reached the round of 16 for the first time at the Australian Open with a 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory over Gilles Muller in a three-hour, 18-minute match.
In a battle of the veterans, Italian Andreas Seppi won a titanic five-set match against Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic – 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (3-7), 6-7 (5-7), 9-7 in three hours and 51 minutes.
In the women’s draw, Petra Martic celebrated her 27th birthday on Friday by beating Thai qualifier Luksika Kumkhum 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 to reach the last 16 of the Australian Open for the first time.
Ukrainian world No 4 Elina Svitolina ended 15-year-old Marta Kostyuk’s first Grand Slam with a 6-2, 6-2 win, while Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro fought back from a set down to beat Kaia Kanepi 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.
