Thiem rallies against Kudla, reaches Australian Open 3rd round

Melbourne Jan 18 (IANS) Dominic Thiem of Austria ranked and seeded No.5 on Thursday booked a place in the third round of the Australian Open after a hard-fought win over Denis Kudla of the United States 6-7 (6-8) 3-6 6-3 6-2 6-3.

It took the 24 year-old Thiem nearly four hours to come back from two sets down to prevail over Kudla the World No.176 reports Efe.

"It s only the second time in my career that I ve turned it around from 0-2 sets and especially in this very hot weather it was tough. But it was still nice to play with a great crowd. And of course I m more than happy to be in the third round again " Thiem said.

The two-time Roland Garros semifinalist had to dig deep to reach the third round for the third time in his career blasting 57 winners compared to Kudla s 51.

"I served very well in the first round but Denis he just played extraordinary. I think he s full of confidence -- he s won four matches already. And then especially when he was one two sets up: it was very tough to turn it around " Thiem added.

Thiem is scheduled to next face Frenchman Adrian Mannarino world No. 27 who defeated Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-3.

--IANS
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