Edmund, Cilic, Mertens through to Australian Open semis
Wednesday, 24 January 2018
MELBOURNE, Jan 23, 2018 (Agencies): Kyle Edmund became only the sixth British man to reach a Grand Slam semi-final with an upset win over Bulgaria's world No.3 Grigor Dimitrov at the Australian Open on Tuesday.
The unseeded Edmund, ranked 49, won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 2hr 49min and will face Marin Cilic for a place in the final.
World No.1 Rafael Nadal retired with a leg injury handing Marin Cilic passage into his second Australian Open semi-final on Tuesday.
Cilic won 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 2-0 in 3hr 47min on Rod Laver Arena and will face Britain's Kyle Edmund for a place in the final on Thursday.
Elise Mertens produced another huge upset in a tournament littered with them when she thrashed fourth seed Elina Svitolina 6-4 6-0 to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open at the first attempt on Tuesday.
Ukrainian Svitolina came into the match riding high on a nine-match winning streak from the start of the season but, hampered by a hip injury, was completely outplayed by the aggressive Belgian on Rod Laver Arena.
Barely putting a foot wrong over the entire contest, the world number 37 sealed the victory and her first grand slam semi-final when she ripped a 26th winner, this time off her backhand, after 73 minutes.
The 22-year-old emitted a huge shriek of delight and danced around the court in triumph before blowing a kiss to the skies and beaming at her coach and boyfriend Robbe Ceyssens in the stands.