Berdych trumps Bautista Agut for spot in quarters

Sixth seed Tomas Berdych advanced to yet another Australian Open quarter-final after prevailing against Roberto Bautista Agut in five sets on Sunday.

Berdych was tested throughout but kept his composure at crucial moments to post a 4-6 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-3 victory on Margaret Court Arena.

A two-time semi-finalist at Melbourne Park, Berdych is now set to face either third seed Roger Federer or David Goffin in his sixth successive Australian Open quarter-final.

Bautista Agut came into the contest with a 4-23 record against top-10 players on the ATP Tour, but relatively confident given two of those wins were over Berdych.

The Spanish 24th seed, who matched his best grand slam run with Sunday's fourth-round clash, gained the early ascendency by converting a backhanded volley at 30-40 to go up a break in the fifth game and he never relinquished the lead as he closed out the opening set.

Having struggled to get going, Berdych was visibly tense during the early exchanges of the second set, venting his frustration at the umpire after birds were seen swooping across court mid-rally.

But Berdych slowly found his rhythm, breaking Bautista Agut's serve in the 10th and decisive game to level the match.

Bautista Agut was up against it in the third, fending off seven break points in the fourth game, though he eventually came unstuck in his next service game as the latter powered into a commanding position at the start of the fourth.

The fourth set, however, belonged to Bautista Agut, who won 23 of his 37 baseline points to force a decider, only for Berdych to return to his best when it mattered most, despite being broken as he initially served for the match at 5-1.
Source: AFP