Nadal waltzes into last 16

Update: 2018-01-20 09:34 IST

Melbourne: Rafael Nadal cruised into the fourth round of the Australian Open with a straight sets win over Damir Dzumhur. The top seed Spaniard crushed the Bosnian 6-1, 6-3, 6-1.

Melbourne's heatwave had relented by the time the Nadal walked on Margaret Court Arena, but the Spaniard was on fire as he battered the 28th seed into submission. Nadal finished the job in one hour 50 minutes to reach the last 16 here for the 11th time where he will face Argentina's Diego Schwartzman.

Nick Kyrgios toppled his childhood idol Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a tense clash to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open on Friday 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(5), 4-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(5) under the lights of Rod Laver Arena.

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. French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko's Australian Open hopes ended as the seventh seed was beaten 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 by Anett Kontaveit in a battle of the Baltic.

Latvian Ostapenko, playing with a  bandaged hand, 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. Third seed Grigor Dimitrov survived a tricky test in fierce heat against feisty young Russian Andrey Rublev to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open on Friday. The 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory looked comfortable enough for the 26-year-old.

Fourth seeded Elina Svitolina gave 15-year-old compatriot Marta Kostyuk a 59-minute lesson in Grand Slam tennis to reach the fourth round with a 6-2, 6-2 victory in searing heat. Kostyuk on Wednesday became the youngest player to reach the third round of a major in over 20 years.

Britain's Kyle Edmund overcame Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-6(0), 3-6, 4-6, 6-0, 7-5 in a topsy-turvy contest on court two. Croatia's Petra Martic celebrated her 26th birthday in style by defeating Thailand's Luksika Kumkhum 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 to set up a clash with unseeded Belgian Elise Mertens.

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