Big guns saunter into quarters

 Dressed in black and oozing menace, Andy Murray extracted sweet revenge by felling Wimbledon nemesis Grigor Dimitrov in a late-night thriller as the old guard stood firm to march into the Australian Open quarterfinals on Sunday.

Former champions Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova sailed into the last eight but will share the limelight with Murray's next opponent Nick Kyrgios, a local gatecrasher who roared to a famous five-set victory over Roger Federer-slayer Andreas Seppi.

Murray won 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5 and Dimitrov destroyed his racquet in disgust after blowing a 5-2 lead in the fourth set to allow the Briton to serve for the match.

The ending was cruel for Dimitrov but well-earned for Murray, as the Scot punched a cross-court forehand into the tape on match point, with the ball dropping over to send the Bulgarian out.

Boasting a perfect 10-0 record over Australians, Murray will battle the home crowd as well as Kyrgios when the pair clash in two days' time.

Third seed Nadal continued his brilliant comeback from a 2014 season ravaged by injury and illness, drawing the sting from big-serving South African Kevin Anderson in a hard-fought first set before crushing him 7-5, 6-1, 6-4.

Sharapova needed scarcely more than an hour to beat US Open semifinalist Peng Shuai.
The Russian's 6-3, 6-0 romp set up a showdown with Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 winner over Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu.

With the refurbished Margaret Court Arena promoted to the second showcourt, cheap ticket-holders have been given the run of Hisense Arena and the natives were restless as Kyrgios blew a 4-1 lead in the final set of his nerve-jangling 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 8-6 win.

The party might have been wilder but for seventh seed Tomas Berdych, who subjected local hope Bernard Tomic to a 6-2, 7-6(3), 6-2 thrashing.

It was a banner day for Russia, however, with feisty left-hander Ekaterina Makarova booking her third Melbourne Park quarterfinal in four years with a 6-3, 6-2 thrashing of German Julia Goerges.


Fourth round results: Men:  6-Andy Murray (Gbr) bt 10-Grigor Dimitrov (Bul) 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-5; Nick Kyrgios (Aus) bt Andreas Seppi (Ita) 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 8-6; 3-Rafa Nadal (Esp) bt 14-Kevin Anderson (Rsa) 7-5, 6-1, 6-4; 7-Tomas Berdych (Cze) bt Bernard Tomic (Aus) 6-2, 7-6 (3), 6-2.

Women: 3-Simona Halep (Rom) bt Yanina Wickmayer (Bel) 6-4, 6-2; 2-Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt 21-Peng Shuai (Chn) 6-3, 6-0; 10-Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) beat Julia Goerges (Ger) 6-3, 6-2; 7-Eugenie Bouchard (Can) bt Irina Begu (Rom) 6-1, 5-7, 6-2.