Australian Open: Khachanov sees off Machac, sets date with Sinner

Russian Karen Khachanov, the No 15 seed, reached the last 16 of the Australian Open by edging out Tomas Machac 6-4, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (5) at Melbourne Park on Friday night.

It was a valiant effort by Machac, who his 64 winners in a losing cause. Little separated the pair, with Khachanov’s 13 less errors proving the difference, along with his break point defence (saved 17/19).

Khachanov, ranked No 15, will play Italian Jannik Sinner, the No 4 seed, next.

The Russian edged out German Daniel Altmaier (5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3)) and won against American qualifier Aleksandar Kovacevic (6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3) ahead of his victory.

Earlier in the tournament, Machac, ranked No 75, beat Japanese lucky loser Shintaro Mochizuki (7-5, 6-1, 7-5) and American Frances Tiafoe, the No 17 seed (6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (5)).

Melbourne (Grand Slam), other third-round results (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 58.910.000, most recent results first):

• Alexander Zverev vs. Alex Michelsen
• Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Cameron Norrie vs. Casper Ruud
• Grigor Dimitrov vs. Nuno Borges
• Arthur Cazaux vs. Tallon Griekspoor
• Juncheng Shang vs. Carlos Alcaraz
• Ugo Humbert vs. Hubert Hurkacz
• Tommy Paul vs. Miomir Kecmanovic
• Sebastian Korda vs. Andrey Rublev
• Alex De Minaur vs. Flavio Cobolli
• Novak Djokovic vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry
• Adrian Mannarino vs. Ben Shelton
• Luca Van Assche vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas: friday
• Taylor Fritz vs. Fabian Marozsan: friday
• Jannik Sinner beat Sebastian Baez (26): 6-0, 6-1, 6-3