Goffin battles past Thiem and Dimitrov sees off Istomin
Tuesday 24 January 2017 14:00, UK
Milos Raonic remained on course for a maiden Grand Slam title with a four-set victory over Roberto Bautista Agut in the Australian Open fourth round.
Raonic held his nerve to claim a 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 6-4 6-1 victory over the 13th seeded Spaniard and a place in his sixth career Grand Slam quarter-final.
The 26-year-old was beaten by Andy Murray in the Wimbledon final last year and also in the last four at Melbourne Park but with the world No 1 joining world No 2 Novak Djokovic in bowing out early, the main threats to Raonic have slipped away.
The Canadian world No 3 is the highest ranked player left in the men's event and after surviving a wobble in the second set, he came through to set up a quarter-final showdown with Rafael Nadal who beat Gael Monfils in four sets.
Raonic edged an evenly contested first set thanks to a tie-break, but Bautista Agut battled back to claim the second and had crucial chances to break serve in the third.
But Raonic managed to stave off a couple of break points and strike back with a crucial break of his own to claim the advantage once more, and it was not an opportunity he was about to let past.
With his booming forehand matching a fully-firing serve, the Canadian breezed through the fourth set for the loss of just one game to continue his title bid.
Grigor Dimitrov ended Denis Isomin's unlikely story at the quarter-final stage with a four-set victory over Novak Djokovic's conqueror.
Istomin, the world no 117, beat defending champion Djokovic in the second round and followed up by sending Pablo Carreno Busta packing but Dimitrov proved a bridge too far.
The Bulgarian, a winner in Brisbane last week, advanced to his third career Grand Slam quarter-final but only after an inspired Istomin took the opening set.
But the exertions his efforts took their toll on the Uzbek and 15th seed Dimitrov levelled the match with a dominant performance in the second set tie-break.
As Istomin struggled with cramp and a couple of visitors from the trainer, Dimitrov ran through the third and fourth sets with relative ease to seal a 2-6 7-6 6-2 6-1 success and a second Australian Open quarter-final.
Dimitrov will face David Goffin in the last eight after the Belgian won Monday's opening men's fourth-round encounter with a four-set win over Austria's Dominic Thiem.
The Belgian, seeded 11th, battled back from a set down to record a 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-1 victory and a place in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for only the second time.
Thiem, who last year reached the World Tour Finals and beat Goffin in the last eight of the French Open took the first set, but Goffin rallied superbly to win in 2hrs 44mins with his opponent wilting in the Melbourne heat.
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