Britain's Edmund beats Dimitrov to reach Australian Open semis

23 January 2018 - 09:47 By Reuters
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Britain's Kyle Edmund signs autographs after beating Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov in their men's singles quarter-finals match on day nine of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 23, 2018.
Britain's Kyle Edmund signs autographs after beating Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov in their men's singles quarter-finals match on day nine of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 23, 2018.
Image: WILLIAM WEST / AFP

Britain's Kyle Edmund bludgeoned his way past third seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday to reach the Australian Open semi-finals.

The unseeded 23-year-old, playing in his first grand slam quarter-final, showed no nerves as he blazed away with his fearsome forehand to subdue a nervy Dimitrov.

The Bulgarian struggled to reproduce the form that saw him beat home favourite Nick Kyrgios in the previous round, with his serve especially vulnerable.

Edmund broke decisively at 4-4 in the opening set with a thunderbolt forehand off a weak second serve.

Dimitrov took the second set but never looked completely comfortable against the ultra aggressive Edmund and a double-fault at 3-4 in the third set proved costly.

The players swapped breaks in the fourth set but Edmund broke again for a 5-4 lead to serve for the match.

A tense final game saw Edmund double-fault but an ace brought up match point and then Dimitrov sliced a backhand long which was confirmed by Hawkeye.

Edmund is the only British man in the main draw after three-times grand slam champion Andy Murray withdrew to have surgery on his hip. 


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