Kyrgios, Halep battle into quarter-finals of Australian Open

Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios fought back from match point down to overhaul Andreas Seppi in five sets and reach the Australian Open quarter-finals While Romanian third seed Simona Halep battled through to the Australian Open quarter-finals Sunday with a hard-fought straight sets win over unseeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer. [caption id=“attachment_2063481” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Nick Kyrgios celebrates winning in his fourth round match against Andreas Seppi. Getty[/caption] The 53rd-ranked Kyrgios defeated the 46th-ranked Italian, who beat Roger Federer in the last round, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) 8-6 and will play either Andy Murray or Grigor Dimitrov in the final eight. Kyrgios fought off a match point at 5-6 in the fourth set and went on to force a tiebreaker before downing Seppi in a titanic fifth set in front of a charged home crowd on Hisense Arena. It will be the second quarter-final inside a year for the 19-year-old after he reached the last eight at Wimbledon, becoming the first male teenager to reach multiple Grand Slam quarter-finals since Roger Federer in 2001. Kyrgios staged a pulsating comeback and finished with 66 winners, 25 of them aces, and 74 unforced errors given his make-or-break playing style. He broke Seppi’s serve three times and lost his service three times. Kyrgios said when he faced match point he thought back to his match with Frenchman Richard Gasquet at Wimbledon when he saved nine match points before going on to win. “It feels so good,” Kyrgios said. “This is my favourite court I’ve ever played on.” Kyrgios is a fast-rising star in the game and is the first Australian to reach the quarter-finals of his home Grand Slam since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005. The 53rd-ranked Kyrgios defeated the 46th-ranked Italian, who beat Roger Federer in the last round, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) 8-6 and will play either Andy Murray or Grigor Dimitrov in the last eight. Romanian third seed Simona Halep battled through to the Australian Open quarter-finals Sunday with a hard-fought straight sets win over unseeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer. Halep downed world number 80 Wickmayer 6-4, 6-2 to set up a final eight clash with Russian tenth seed Ekaterina Makarova. “It was a very tough match but great. I played really well,” the 23-year-old said. “I just wanted to go on court and be aggressive and focused because she’s beaten me in the past.” Halep, a quarter-finalist at Melbourne Park last year, faced a stern challenge from Wickmayer, a former world number 12 who reached the US Open semi-finals in 2009. She dug in for a win, putting the result down to experience gained last year when she also reached the final at Roland Garros and the last four at Wimbledon. “I have experience now, I have confidence. Last year I made the quarter-finals here and I’m happy to again show my best tennis,” she said. The nuggety Romanian expected to improve against Makarova, who she defeated in their only previous meeting at New Haven in 2013. “I have confidence I can beat her again but it’s a quarter-finals and it will be a tough match,” she said. Halep attacked Wickmayer’s serve from the outset, bringing up break points on the Belgian’s two service games. She converted the second after a 12-shot rally, chasing down everything and keeping the ball in play until Wickmayer finally pushed a backhand wide. The Belgian double faulted to concede another break and make it 4-1 but gradually gained confidence on the baseline, cracking two forehand winners to break back in the next game. Wickmayer saved two set points serving at 5-4, the first with a fizzing cross-court forehand and the second when Halep netted her return. The Romanian made no mistake serving in the next game, bringing up set point with an ace and sealing it when Wickmayer mishit a backhand. She stamped her authority on the second set with two early breaks but still failed to dominate despite the one-sided scoreline. AFP