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Federer serves up Fritz blitz, Nadal ruthless

tennis18 January 2019 15:00| © Reuters
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Roger Federer © Gallo Images

Roger Federer celebrated his 100th match at the Australian Open on Friday by giving young American Taylor Fritz a centre court schooling to reach the last 16.

Six-time champion Federer was in devastating touch against the talented 21-year-old, breaking him five times while not giving an inch on serve in the 6-2 7-5 6-2 masterclass at Rod Laver Arena.

The third seed, bidding for a third straight title at Melbourne Park, reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for a record-extending 63rd time in the professional era.

The former world No 1 will take on Greek young gun Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in the quarterfinals as he continues his quest for a 21st Grand Slam title.

NADAL SUBDUES LOCAL HOPE DE MINAUR IN THIRD ROUND CLASH

Rafael Nadal hailed Alex de Minaur as "one of the best in the world" but still showed the teenager the Australian Open door 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in the third round on Friday.

The relentless Spanish 17-time Grand Slam champion dragged the 19-year-old Australian 27th seed over every inch of Rod Laver Arena as he romped to victory in 2hr 22min.

The Spaniard limped out of last year's Australian Open at the quarterfinal stage, cut short his 2018 season to have surgery on a foot injury and pulled out of his Brisbane warm-up with a thigh niggle.

But in the third competitive match of his comeback he was back to his barnstorming best with his all-action game hardly allowing his young rival a sniff.

De Minaur, to his eternal credit, did little wrong and never gave up the fight.

At fleeting moments he even had a glimmer of hope of applying the brakes to the runaway Nadal juggernaut, saving six match points – one after chasing down ball after ball in a lung-bursting 24-shot rally.

"He is a big fighter. Probably he is the fastest on the tour," Nadal said after the match. "That match point saved was unbelievable.

"I think I played a very solid match and I want to congratulate Alex for a great start to the season. I think he has an amazing future."

The first three games of the match ran to several deuces and 23 minutes of pulsating baseline rallying.

But once he got the break for a 2-1 lead, Nadal decided he had enough of the jousting and swept the next four games in just another 17 minutes.

De Minaur was pummelled again on serve in the first game of the second set, which ran to nine deuces and 18 minutes, until the tireless Nadal secured it with his fifth break point.

De Minaur managed only his second break point of the match as Nadal served for the second set at 5-2, but it was repelled.

A third and a fourth followed but two big deliveries from the world No 2's new service action snuffed those out.

"I hit a good serve and played a solid game," said the 2009 champion.

Nadal converted on his first set point and another early break in the third saw him surge through for the third match in a row without the loss of a set.

De Minaur, who has Spanish heritage, was simply given a masterclass for the second time at a Slam by the man he dubs "the king".

At the same stage at Wimbledon last year he went down in to an identical 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 scoreline.

Nadal moves inexorably on and will face unseeded Czech former world No 4 Tomas Berdych for a place in the quarterfinals.

TSITSIPAS EYES UP FEDERER AFTER ROLLICKING VICTORY

Fiery Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas was looking forward to a last-16 clash with Roger Federer after overcoming a mini-meltdown to beat Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-4.

"It will be amazing playing Roger on Rod Laver," said Tsitsipas of the Swiss great.

The 14th seed, touted among the new generation of young stars as a future champion, came through the third round after being docked his first serve for exceeding the shot clock at a crucial moment while facing a break point in the third set.

The powerful Georgian Basilashvili, seeded 19, took advantage on the second delivery to break back causing Tsitsipas to unload a verbal tirade in the direction of his coaching team in his player box.

French umpire Alexandre Robein clearly understood enough of Greek and English vernacular to slap the 20-year-old with a code violation for an audible obscenity.

But backed by a raucous Greek contingent in a rowdy atmosphere on Margaret Court Arena, he recovered his composure to win the set in a tense tiebreak.

He cruised through the fourth set to become the first Greek man to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam twice, after reaching the same stage at Wimbledon last year.

"It's good to have such support and exciting to have an atmosphere like this," said Tsitsipas.

"I feel like I'm playing at home, I never had so many Greek – and Aussie – people support me."

BERYCH REACHES FOURTH ROUND

Czech veteran Tomas Berdych rallied to reach the fourth round with a battling 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 win over Argentine 18th seed Diego Schwartzman.

Berdych reached the semifinals in Melbourne in 2014 and 2015 but is unseeded this year after injury.

AGASSI-FUELLED DIMITROV POWERS ON

Grigor Dimitrov's rejuvenation under the wing of Andre Agassi continued apace as he powered into the last 16 with a straight-sets win over Italian Thomas Fabbiano.

The 27-year-old Bulgarian won 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 6-4 in just over two hours under the roof at Melbourne Arena to stay on course for a potential quarterfinal against second seed Rafael Nadal.

Before that can happen, the 20th seed's resurgence will need to continue against an unseeded player – either American Frances Tiafoe or veteran Italian Andreas Seppi – in the fourth round.

"Different conditions, I love when the roof is closed," said Dimitrov, who reached the semifinals at Melbourne Park two years ago.

"I was just very happy I was going to play a match today, with the weather."

Dimitrov, who was tumbling down the rankings before adding Agassi to his team in October, played sparkling tennis at times reminiscent of 2017 when he reached a career-high ranking of three.

The world number 21 gave the credit to his coaching team, led by Dani Vallverdu who formerly coached Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych.

But he singled out Agassi for the highest praise.

"Just him sitting out there, watching my match, just giving me his time is the most valuable thing on earth to me," he said of the man who won eight Grand Slams – four of them coming at the Australian Open.

"It's such a warm welcome when I come to Australia. I love playing out here," added Dimitrov.

"Hopefully my game gets better. Solid win in straight sets today. Moving on."

CILIC SAVES MATCH POINTS TO REACH OPEN LAST 16 IN LATE-NIGHT DRAMA

CILIC SURVIVES AFTER VERDASCO DOUBLE-FAULTS ON MATCH POINT

A relieved Marin Cilic squeezed into the fourth round of the Australian Open in the early hours of Saturday after Fernando Verdasco double-faulted on match point to allow the sixth seed to complete an epic comeback win.

Beaten by Roger Federer in last year's final, Cilic was pushed to the brink by Spanish veteran Verdasco who had the Croat on the ropes in the fourth set tiebreak.

But having fired 27 aces, Verdasco's serve let him down at the crucial moment, and he fell 4-6 3-6 6-1 7-6(8) 6-3 after a four-hour 18-minute classic at Margaret Court Arena.

"Thanks for sticking around, it was definitely a tough match, unbelievable," Cilic told the crowd in his on-court interview.

"It was a big hill to climb... I'm just putting myself in a hole and let's see what I'm going to do."

In the nerve-jangling tiebreak, former US Open champion Cilic saved a match point with a huge serve into the corner but was at the mercy of Verdasco's serve on the second.

The 35-year-old Spaniard clipped the net cord on his second serve effort, though, leaving him wide-eyed in shock and grabbing at his hair.

Cilic fired a backhand winner down the line to bring up set point and then blasted a forehand past his shattered opponent to take the match into a fifth.

"It was definitely a tough tiebreak," said Cilic.

"It came down to one shot, or basically one decision. I was a little bit lucky on that net cord.

"Today I was just slightly luckier in those crucial moments."

Former semifinalist Verdasco slumped in his chair and stewed over the near-miss, muttering darkly in Spanish before receiving a code violation for failing to restart the deciding set quickly enough.

He was promptly broken and fell 4-1 behind but further heartbreak was to come.

Cilic double-faulted twice to give Verdasco three break points at 4-2 but the Croat slammed the door shut by winning the next five points.

Riding the support of Melbourne's large Croatian community, Cilic sealed the win on his first match point when Verdasco hammered a forehand into the net.

Given a stinging lesson in the virtues of clinical tennis, Verdasco exited the stadium quickly and with head bowed.

Cilic will meet another Spaniard for a place in the quarterfinals when he faces 22nd seed Roberto Bautista Agut, the man who knocked injured Andy Murray out of the first round.

Additional reporting by AFP

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