Australian Open 2018: Nadal Breezes Past Dzumhur, Tsonga Out
Rafael Nadal moves into the fourth round of the Australian Open.
Top seed Rafael Nadal stormed into the fourth round of the Australian Open with a bludgeoning 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 win over Bosnia's Damir Dzumhur on Friday.
Melbourne's heatwave had relented by the time Nadal walked on the Margaret Court Arena, but the Spaniard was on fire as he battered the 28th seed into submission.
The sole blemish was a dropped service game early in the second set but it only slowed his charge briefly.
Nadal finished the job in one hour 50 minutes to reach the last 16 in the Australian Open for the 11th time where he will face Argentina's Diego Schwartzman.
Nick Kyrgios won the last five points of the tie-breaker to beat 2008 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) and remain with a chance of providing a first Australian male singles winner of the Australian Open in 42 years.
Trailing 5-2 in the tiebreaker, Kyrgios went on a roll as Tsonga appeared to struggle with a knee issue.
Kyrgios is the last of nine Australian male players left in the singles draw. Mark Edmondson was the last Australian to win his national championship in 1976, although Lleyton Hewitt came close, losing the 2005 final to Marat Safin.
The 17th-seeded Kyrgios will play third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round. Dimitrov beat Andrey Rublev 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 earlier on Friday.
Will Smith made his Grand Slam debut on Friday night, taking a seat at Rod Laver Arena for the match between Nick Kyrgios and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
The actor briefly met Tsonga before the players walked onto the court.
"Really a great guy. Really sweet. Love his energy," Smith told former player Jim Courier in an interview aired on the Seven Network. "Happy being here watching these guys play."
Smith has spent 10 days in Australia taking a break before starting work on a movie.
"This is the first time at the Open – this is my first Slam," said Smith, who planned to watch top-ranked Rafael Nadal on nearby Margaret Court Arena but decided to stick around on the main show court.
He is the second Hollywood personality at the Australian Open this week. Will Ferrell appeared in the crowd over the first few days, doing an on-court interview with Roger Federer.
(With inputs from Reuters and AP)
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