Bernard Tomic has kept his Sydney International title defence on track with a hard-fought victory over Slovenian qualifier Blaz Kavcic.
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After a quickfire win over No. 8 seed Spaniard Marcel Granollers in his opening encounter, Tomic had a bigger fight on his hands yesterday as Kavcic pushed him to three sets before the Australian prevailed 6-3 4-6 6-4 to book a quarter-final berth.
Tomic’s father John, who was banned from gaining accreditation to any ATP events for 12 months, was again spotted in the stands after tournament organisers allowed him to attend the tournament as a spectator.
Tomic came bursting out of the blocks to race to a 4-1 lead before he wrapped up the first set.
The Australian seemed to lose his momentum after a brief rain delay was called in the second set.
Up 5-4 when play recommenced, Kavcic took advantage by breaking Tomic’s serve immediately to level at one set each.
Ahead 5-4 in the final set, Tomic closed out the match on his second match-point with an overhead smash.
The world ranked No. 52 Australian will now take on Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov or talented No. 2 seed Pole Jerzy Janowicz for a spot in the semi-finals.
AAP