Tennis

Australian Open: Nishikori, Berdych, Tsonga and Kyrgios into third round

Top 10 seeds Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Kei Nishikori have progressed into the third round of the Australian Open, while home favourite Nick Kyrgios has also made it through in Melbourne.

Berdych, who reached the semi-finals of the Grand Slam last year, eased past Mirza Basic in a 6-4 6-0 6-3 victory, which took him one hour and 40 minutes to complete.

Games went by the way of serve in the first set, and Berdych showed his intent by creating five break points in the fourth game, but Basic held firm.

The Czech eventually found the breakthrough and after taking the first set in 42 minutes, the 30-year-old required just over 20 minutes to take the second as he snatched every one of his opponent’s service games.

In the third set, Berdych continued to dominate as he broke serve just the once, but it was enough to seal victory as he marched into the next round.

It was easy work for Tsonga as well, as the Frenchman ousted Omar Jasika 7-5 6-1 6-4 in one hour and 46 minutes Down Under.

The 2008 finalist suffered a brief wobble in the first set as he lost serve, but he instantly broke back to 3-3 before pushing on and claiming a one-set lead.

Jasika failed to trouble Tsonga in the second set as he dropped serve twice inside the first four games and the ninth seed managed to wrap it up in less than 30 minutes.

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Tsonga eased through the third set as he required just one break point to oust his opponent and continue his campaign in the first Grand Slam of the year.

Nishikori, who is a fan favourite in Australia, also came through his second-round match unscathed as he sealed a 6-3 7-6(5) 6-3 win over Austin Krajicek.

There was only one break point created in the first set and it was Nishikori on the positive end of it as it nudged him ahead in the match.

After taking a one-set lead, the Japanese star began dominating proceedings as he immediately went a break up in the second, but Krajicek fought back to break and send the contest into a tie-break.

There were some nervy moments for Nishikori as he dropped serve twice, but he managed to come through 7-5 before wrapping up the third set in half an hour.

Krygios has had his fair share of controversial moments in the past year, but he remains a fan favourite in his home tournament, and he did not disappoint as he earned a 6-4 7-5 6-2(2) win over Pablo Cuevas in the second round.

The Australian was comfortable in the first set as he broke once to claim the lead in Melbourne, but he dropped serve in the second, giving Cuevas a sense that he could cause an upset.

Kyrgios managed to recover to take the second set, but it was a more even contest in the third as it was forced into a tie-break.

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The 20-year-old, who reached the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam last year, dominated the breaker as he took it 7-2 and secured his place in the next round.

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