Sandgren knocks out Thiem, reaches Australian Open quarters

Melbourne Jan 22 (IANS) Tennys Sandgren of the United States on Monday battled his way to the Australian Open quarter-finals for the first time in his career at the expense of world No. 5 Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-2 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (7-9) 6-3.

The odds were in world No. 97 Sandgren s favour going into the match as he had already stunned world No. 8 Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland in Melbourne s second round reports Efe.

"I m starting to disbelieve what is happening now " Sandgren said.

"But maybe it s not a dream? He played some really really great tennis especially in the fourth set tie-break. Goodness gracious! I knew I had to take my chances and he from behind the court would outlast me. I had to stay aggressive and serve well " the 26-year-old said after the match.

Sandgren needed almost four hours to end Thiem s best run in Melbourne earning 179 total points during the match compared to the Austrian s 168.

This was the second time Thiem fell short of reaching the quarter-finals; in 2017 he was defeated in the round of 16 by David Goffin of Belgium.

Sandgren s next opponent is to be world No. 58 Hyeon Chung of South Korea who defeated Serbian star Novak Djokovic in straight sets.

--IANS
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