Sydney - Gilles Muller beat the heat to be one match away
from a third straight semi-final appearance at the Sydney International
following a big-serving victory over Australian Matt Barton on Wednesday.
The sixth seed from Luxembourg prevailed over Barton 6-1,
3-6, 6-4 as temperatures nudged 42 Celsius (108 Fahrenheit) to reach the
quarter-finals.
Muller, who lost to Grigor Dimitrov in last year's
semi-final, will next face Uruguayan second seed Pablo Cuevas, who overcame
Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.
"It was tough today. I think it was good that we both have
big serves, there were not many rallies so that helped to get through it. I was
happy when it was over," Muller said.
The 33-year-old added that he was still struggling with the
lingering effects of illness from last week's Brisbane International, where he
lost in the first round to American Jared Donaldson.
"The result is actually not so bad, the quarter-finals
so I should be happy," he said.
"I like it here. The courts are quite fast, I enjoy the
city. I feel good here. I don't know what it is, but it's true my results have
been great here over the last three years."
German fifth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber knocked out
Australian Jordan Thompson 7-5, 6-4 and will face the winner of the match
between two-time defending champion Viktor Troicki and Paolo Lorenzi.
Kohlschreiber needed just 84 minutes to cruise past Thompson,
who failed to save a single break point.
Spanish fourth seed Pablo Carreno-Busta dropped the first
set before overcoming German Mischa Zverev 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3
Tournament top seed Dominic Thiem plays his first match of the Australian Open warm-up event in an evening clash against Portuguese qualifier Gastao Elias.
Results from the fourth day of the ATP/WTA Tour Sydney International tennis tournament on Wednesday (x denotes seed):
Women's singles
Quarter-finals
Barbora Strycova (CZE) bt Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x10) 7-5, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 6-2, 6-3
Johanna Konta (GBR x6) bt Darya Kasatkina (RUS) 6-3, 7-5
Men's singles
2nd round
Pablo Carreno-Busta (ESP x4) bt Mischa Zverev (GER) 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3
Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER x5) bt Jordan Thompson (AUS) 7-5, 6-4
Gilles Muller (LUX x6) bt Matthew Barton (AUS) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
Pablo Cuevas (URU x2) bt Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
Daniel Evans (GBR) bt Marcel Granollers (ESP x8) 1-6, 6-3, 6-3