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Defending two-time champion Jannik Sinner continued his fine run at the ongoing Australian Open, surviving sweltering Aussie heat and cramps to make it to the fourth round with a win over Eliot Spizzirri on Saturday.
As per ATP's official website, Sinner beat Eliot in a fine comeback win from being one set down, by 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena in a battle that lasted for three hours and 45 minutes. With the match level at one set each, Eliot broke for a 3-1 lead in the third set as Sinner struggled with cramp pain, which hampered his ability to move and make serves. The play was suspended due to heat, and after a 10-minute break, Sinner regrouped and made a phenomenal comeback to make it to round four, taking another step in ensuring a hat-trick of title wins in Australia. Sinner's next challenge will be compatriot Luciano Darderi in their first-ever clash, who outclassed But Sinner showed his class and composure to set a fourth-round encounter against fellow Italian Luciano Darderi. Their clash will be the first in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, after Darderi outclassed 2023 Australian Open semi-finalist Karen Khachanov 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. He has experienced improvement in his fortunes at the Grand Slam. At one point, after failing to make it past round two, he made it to the third round of the US Open last year and the fourth round right here in Australia. Earlier, Lorenzo Musetti, the current world number five, advanced to round four, beating Tomas Machac of Czech by 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 in a five-set battle. The two-time ATP Tour-level titlist made it to the fourth round at the Australian Open for the first time, with semifinal finishes in the French Open (2025) and Wimbledon (2024) as his career-best Grand Slam performances. Also, the world number seven, Ben Shelton, also made it to the fourth round, outclassing Australia's Dane Sweeney, and will be aiming to do better than his 2025 semifinal finish here at Melbourne. (ANI)
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