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MELBOURNE — Elise Mertens produced another huge upset in a tournament littered with them when she thrashed fourth seed Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-0 to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open at the first attempt on Tuesday.

Ukrainian Svitolina came into the match riding high on a nine-match winning streak from the start of the season but, hampered by a hip injury, was completely outplayed by the aggressive Belgian on Rod Laver Arena.

Barely putting a foot wrong over the entire contest, the world number 37 sealed the victory and her first Grand Slam semi-final when she ripped a 26th winner, this time off her backhand, after 73 minutes.

The 22-year-old emitted a huge shriek of delight and danced around the court in triumph before blowing a kiss to the skies and beaming at her coach and boyfriend Robbe Ceyssens in the stands. 

“I’m without words, I don’t know what to say. I have mixed emotions, all good emotions,” Mertens said on court, the smile still fixed on her face. 

“I gave it all today, it was a little stressy at the end. I played my game and it went well.”

The first Belgian to make the semifinals in Melbourne since her mentor Kim Clijsters won the title in 2012, Mertens will next meet Caroline Wozniacki or Carla Suarez Navarro.

For Svitolina, who said she had been struggling with the hip injury since winning the Brisbane International warm-up, it was a third Grand Slam quarter-final defeat in three attempts after her two previous disappointments at the French Open.

Given the Ukrainian’s renowned mobility, Mertens was well aware that she would have to go for her shots if she was to win and she did just that to break for 2-1 at the start of the opening set with a thumping backhand return.

A second break for 5-2 put Svitolina firmly on the back foot but the World No. 4 finally exerted some pressure and got one of the breaks back when Mertens double faulted while serving for the set.

That could have been a turning point but Mertens regathered herself, and served out at the second attempt when Svitolina miscued a forehand after 41 minutes.

“I knew it was going to be tough, I tried to be aggressive, make her move, come to the net a bit more, just try to play aggressive in the court,” Mertens added.

Mertens was now oozing with confidence and an overhead volley at the net saw her break in the first game of the second set before she romped away for a handsome victory. 

“She’s a great player [and] I couldn’t match it, because physically it was very tough for me,” Svitolina said.

“Going into the tournament, I had a few issues with my health. She didn’t give me opportunities. All the credit to her, because she played really good tennis and was only today, so I couldn’t really match it.”

Karolina Pliskova may have been somewhat confused by being compared to a cucumber after reaching the quarter-finals, but she was crystal clear about what she needed to do to go a step further.

The sixth seed burnt the midnight oil in her all-Czech fourth round grudge match against Barbara Strycova, finally clinching a 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 victory at 1.35am local time on Tuesday morning.

The pair fell out last year when coach Tomas Krupa switched from Strycova to Pliskova, with David Kotyza later moving the other way. 

Pliskova was clearly a little nonplussed when the on-court presenter described her as “cool as a cucumber”, later explaining she had never heard the expression before.

“I don’t know if this is something from Australia?” Pliskova said. “I was fine. Obviously the first set took me some energy, some power. I had some chances. I didn’t play well on them,” the 25-year-old added.

MELBOURNE — Roger Federer was a strictly nocturnal beast throughout the first week of the Australian Open but proved just as effective with the sun on his back as he sauntered into the quarter-finals for the 14th time on Monday.

The defending champion did not require his dazzling best against 80th-ranked Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in his first match scheduled during the day session but still emerged a comfortable 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-2 winner.

After his earlier-than-usual finish, the 36-year-old World No. 2 said he might even be able to make the most of a night off and take his wife Mirka out for dinner.

“I was considering sunglasses and a towel for the beach but, no, the only thing is the racket strings are a bit tighter but it’s not crazy hot today,” Federer told former champion Jim Courier in a knockabout post-match chat on court.

“It’s a different rhythm playing in the day and not going to bed at 3am. We might go out for dinner tonight but Mirka has left already — she must have other plans!”

Federer’s light mood matched the sunny conditions and he was even reduced to giggles during one point late in the second set when he miss-hit a forehand high into the air, then defended three consecutive Fucsovics smashes to win a bizarre rally.

“This one was the biggest joke of a point maybe I have ever played,” he said later. “Thankfully it didn’t decide the outcome of that second set. That would have been too much of a joke, to be honest.”

Federer is, yet, to drop a set and did not even face a break point against the 25-year-old Fucsovics, who arrived in Melbourne without a Grand Slam main draw victory to his name.

Yet his unheralded opponent, bidding to become only the third Hungarian man to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final in the professional era, offered an all-round display that belied his record, even if it did not surprise Federer.

“I practiced with him for a few days in a row in Switzerland. That helped, you know, knowing his strength and weaknesses a little bit,” he said.

“He was not completely the unknown opponent that maybe people thought he was.

“He hung with me for a long time. So it was a good match.”

Federer was in cruise control in the first set but struck decisively when Fucsovics served at 4-5, squeezing the throttle enough to earn a set point converted with a smash.

Fucsovics kept Federer honest in the second set and played his part in some entertaining rallies to extend the 19-times Grand Slam champion to a tiebreak.

Federer rifled a running forehand pass to earn three set points and again finished the set at the net, with a smash.

The third set was all over in 31 minutes as Federer raced into the 52nd Grand Slam quarter-final of his career, booking a last eight encounter against 19th seeded Czech Tomas Berdych. 

MELBOURNE — Top seed Rafa Nadal was rattled by a feisty challenge from Diego Schwartzman, but held firm to fend off the diminutive Argentine 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3 and reach his 10th Australian Open quarter-final on Sunday.

In an often breathtaking clash laden with sumptuous shot-making, the Spaniard was rocked by the hard-hitting Schwartzman who broke him three times to claim the second set at Rod Laver Arena.

But the 16-times grand slam champion responded with typical grit, bolstering his defence to blanket the 24th seed’s firepower and counter-punching brilliantly to book a match with Croatia’s Marin Cilic.

After three cakewalks in the previous rounds, the three-hour 51-minute work-out was timely, said Nadal, who came into the tournament with some queries over a knee injury. 

“You can’t expect easy matches when you’re playing in big tournaments,” the world number one told reporters after saving all his seven break points in the final set.

“It’s always better winning in two hours than in four. But that’s it. It was a good test for me. It was a lot of hours on court. Moments under pressure.

“A lot of positive things that I managed well.

“But being honest, too, moments like this helps to be more confident in yourself, in your body.”

The victory ensured Nadal, who lost a five-set classic to long-time rival Roger Federer in the final last year, will retain his world number one ranking.

It also put the Mallorcan equal second with Stefan Edberg on the number of quarter-final appearances in the Australian Grand Slam in the professional era. Federer, naturally, leads with 14.

The jet-heeled Schwartzman joined the Grand Slam quarter-final club at the US Open, a milestone moment during an impressive rise up the rankings in 2017.

Nadal had seen off his first three opponents without dropping a set but it was soon clear at Rod Laver Arena that Schwartzman was cut from a different cloth.

Top spin bombs

The 1.70m Argentine virtually needed a step-ladder to reach the bounce of Nadal’s top-spin bombs but he was all over the Spaniard’s serve from the get-go.

He grudgingly surrendered his own first, though, allowing Nadal to wrap up the first set in 45 minutes. 

From there the match went stratospheric in quality, each player landing blows like bare-knuckled prize-fighters.

After six breaks of serve and a feast of glorious shot-making, the fireworks continued in a frenzied tiebreak.

Schwartzman cracked a blazing forehand down the line to lead 2-0, then outpointed the Spaniard with a backhand volley to move within two points of the set.

The pressure told as a forehand ballooned off the frame of Nadal’s racquet and another backhand sailed long to put the match on level terms.

Schwartzman was pumped, but he left the court immediately, his extended break allowing Nadal time to marshal his forces.

The lefthander resumed with renewed vigour to break Schwartzman to love and after roaring to 5-2, he claimed the third set with an ace.

The momentum was now all with Nadal. He broke again quickly, leaving Schwartzman to curse loudly in Spanish and bicker with the chair umpire at the change of ends.

The 25-year-old kept swinging for the fences to the finish and saved a second match point by ripping a backhand winner down the line.

Nadal simply bided his time before pouncing on the third, a second serve dismissed with a sizzling return winner to keep his bid for a 17th Grand Slam title firmly on track.

AMMAN — Some of Jordan’s top swimmers are heading for a winter training camp in Qatar to help them prepare for the busy season ahead, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The Jordanians will train with the local swimmers and benefit from the warmer weather training as well as access to 50m pools.

The year promises to be an exciting one for Jordan with the Asian Games and Youth Olympics just two of the big events on the calendar.

They will launch their international participation in April at the Dubai International Swimming Championships.

The team travelling to Qatar include Amro Al wer, Mohammad Jaber, Seif Hatbeh, Hamzeh Al Basha, Zeiad Al Sal’ous and females Lydia Al Safadi, Yasmeen Al Bdour, Denis Qurshah, Lara Aklok and Cynthia Al Susi.

AMMAN — Unbeaten Wihdat took one more step towards the Jordan Volleyball League title with a comfortable 3-0 over Eira in the Sports Palace at Al Hussein Youth City, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

Wihdat recorded their sixth win in a row to top the table. Meanwhile, Awdah beat Shabab Al Hussein, 3-0, in the later match at the Sports Palace.

MELBOURNE — Maria Sharapova’s hopes of a title-winning return to the Australian Open were unceremoniously crushed by Angelique Kerber as the battle of the former champions ended 6-1, 6-3 in the German’s favour on Saturday. 

The Rod Laver Arena evening clash between the only two Grand Slam winners left in the women’s draw had the feel of a showpiece final rather than a third-round match-up but only 21st seed Kerber rose to the occasion. 

Unseeded Russian Sharapova, back in Melbourne after testing positive for a banned substance following her quarter-final defeat by Serena Williams here in 2016, which resulted in a 15-month ban, had looked menacing in the opening two rounds. 

But the form she showed in beating 14th seeded Latvian Anastasija Sevastova deserted her. 

Kerber, who plummeted down the rankings last year after finishing the previous campaign at number one, broke Sharapova’s serve in the first game of the match and that set the tone. 

The German made only seven unforced errors in the 64-minute contest and, on the court on which she stunned Serena Williams to win the title two years ago, celebrated victory with the look of a woman who firmly believes she is back in business. 

”Of course this was quite a big match,“ Kerber, who began working with new coach Wim Fissette at the end of last year, told reporters. ”Maria is a champion. She’s always dangerous, especially at the Grand Slams. 

“But I was really trying to not think about everything around and everything about the match, about against who I was playing. I was just more trying to go out on the special court for me and play good tennis.”

Erratic Sharapova

Kerber streaked away with the first set, aided by the erratic nature of Sharapova’s game, and although the 2008 champion briefly threatened a fightback after falling behind in the second, it was not to be the Russian’s night. 

An error-prone Sharapova double-faulted on the way to dropping serve to trail 0-2 in the second set. 

The Russian replied with a break of her own and when she slapped a running forehand winner down the line to make it 2-2 it appeared battle was truly about to commence. 

Alarm bells were ringing for Kerber when Sharapova rifled away a backhand winner to earn a break point at 3-3, but the Russian missed a regulation forehand to waste the chance. 

Four unforced errors, including a flimsy attempt at a drop shot at 15-30, allowed 2016 champion Kerber a break and some breathing space and the German finished the contest with ease. 

Sharapova, playing only her second Grand Slam since returning from her doping suspension, took it on the chin. 

“I don’t want to take anything away from her and the way she played. I think she played extremely well,” said the Russian. 

“She was the more aggressive player. She took a lot more risks than I did. I didn’t return well. I gave her the confidence by making a lot of errors on the return games.” 

Kerber will face either 26th seed Agnieszka Radwanska or Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan in the next round.

MELBOURNE — Nick Kyrgios’s new-found calm remained intact despite a night of bizarre distractions as the fiery home favourite outplayed Serbia’s Viktor Troicki to reach the Australian Open third round without conceding a set on Wednesday.

The 17th seed dealt with a heckling spectator, a malfunctioning umpire’s microphone and was even distracted by a helicopter hovering overhead but remained in control to claim an impressive 7-5, 6-4, 7-6(2) victory.

A year after the 22-year-old was jeered by home fans after surrendering a two-set lead against Italian Andreas Seppi to crash out in the second round, he produced more evidence that a run deep into the second week is possible.

His idol, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 2008 Australian Open runner-up, is next up for Kyrgios who is trying to become the first home men’s champion since Mark Edmondson in 1976.

The 31-year-old Troicki provided a useful gauge of Kyrgios’s form and fitness, but it was the Australian’s relative calmness in the face of chaos that stood out.

He was already a set in front when a fan decided to make a name for himself by standing up in the front row in the Hisense Arena and began bellowing “Oh Yeahhhhhh” while filming himself before being ejected.

A couple of games later a red helicopter hovered above the court, drowning out the sound of the ball being struck.

All that on top of the umpire’s microphone making strange noises which prompted Kyrgios to describe events as “a circus”.

There was plenty of chuntering from Kyrgios but apart from “freaking out” after a late lapse when he dropped serve at 5-4 in the third, he stuck diligently to his task.

Odd incidents

“I think obviously it’s pretty easy to think, ‘Why me?’” Kyrgios said of the odd incidents. “The guy in the crowd was crazy. I didn’t really know what was going on.”

“The helicopter, that’s when I was thinking like, of course, it’s at my match. It’s just hovering there. Of course, it is.”

“Hearing the ball actually come off the racket is a pretty big thing. I missed four returns. I’m blaming the helicopter.”

Told that the fan had posted his puerile stunt on social media, Kyrgios, who was fined for swearing at a fan on Monday, said: “Good on him. Little claim to fame. Let him have it.”

Kyrgios got a helping hand at 5-5 when Troicki served two consecutive double faults to go 0-40 down and he rifled away a backhand winner after a ferocious baseline exchange.

Two unforced errors from Troicki gifted Kyrgios a break at the start of the second set and he then dipped into his bag of dinks and chips, and slapped winners to take a two-set lead.

Kyrgios broke in the third game of the third set but nothing is ever routine with him and out of nowhere, he was broken himself when serving for the match at 5-4.

“I started freaking out a little bit,” Kyrgios said.

Troicki saved one match point at 1-6 in the tiebreak with a deft volley but Kyrgios struck a backhand into the corner a point later to complete a good night’s work and supply further evidence that he is harnessing his unique talent.

“I think last year, the year before, I probably would have been probably still out on the court right now, could be losing that match,” Kyrgios said.

AMMAN — Jordan is hosting a national Taekwondo Open this weekend hoping to unearth the next Ahmad Abu Ghaush, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

With the Olympic gold medallist continuing to impress on the world stage, the Jordan Taekwondo Federation is casting the net far and wide to find fresh talent that could make a global impact.

More than 120 fighters from 46 centres will compete for a place on the various age group national teams that will take part at a March championship in Bulgaria. A second national championship will be held later in the year in August.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 27 points with a career-high 20 rebounds and the Milwaukee Bucks snapped a two-game skid with a 104-95 victory over the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena on Monday.

Eric Bledsoe scored 23 for the Bucks, who went 8-of-16 from beyond the arc. Khris Middleton added 19 points for Milwaukee.

It was the Bucks’ second win over the Wizards in the last 10 days, following a 110-103 victory January 6 in Milwaukee.

Grizzlies 123, Lakers 114

Rookie Dillon Brooks led eight players in double figures with 19 points, helping Memphis outlast Los Angeles 123-114 in Memphis.

Tyreke Evans recorded a 15-point, 12-assist double-double for the Grizzlies, who beat the Lakers for the second time in three meetings this season and for the seventh straight time at home.

Playing without standout rookies Lonzo Ball (sprained knee) and Brandon Ingram (sprained ankle), the Lakers saw a season-high four-game winning streak come to an end.

Hawks 102, Spurs 99

Dennis Schroder scored 26 points, including two big buckets in the final 40 seconds, as Atlanta picked up a rare win over San Antonio in a matinee at Philips Arena in Atlanta.

Schroder hit a pull-up jumper and then followed it with a difficult, high-arching left-handed layup to help the Hawks beat the Spurs for only the second time in the last 15 meetings. After Schroder hit a pair of free throws to put the Hawks up three with seven seconds left, Spurs guard Danny Green missed a contested, potential tying 3-pointer as time expired.

Kawhi Leonard sat out for the fifth time in seven games to rest recent shoulder and quad injuries, while the Spurs lost Manu Ginobili to a thigh contusion in the first quarter.

76ers 117, Raptors 111 

Joel Embiid scored 34 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, T.J. McConnell added a career-high 18 points to go along with eight assists and Philadelphia held on for the victory over Toronto at the Wells Fargo Centre in Philadelphia.

It was the seventh career game for Embiid with at least 30 points, and just the second win for the 76ers in the last 20 meetings between the two teams.

J.J. Redick contributed 15 before leaving in the fourth with a reported leg contusion. Ben Simmons added 12 before being ejected in the final minute along with Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, who returned after missing the last three games with a bruised tailbone.

Knicks 119, Nets 104 

Kristaps Porzingis scored 26 points as New York dominated the fourth quarter en route to a 119-104 win over Brooklyn at Barclays Centre.

Michael Beasley added 13 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter for the Knicks, who opened a seven-game road trip by outscoring the Nets 36-23 in the final 12 minutes.

Beasley, whose minutes were reduced the previous two games because of Tim Hardaway Jr’s return from a leg injury, shot 10-of-18 as the Knicks rested Hardaway. He also grabbed 10 rebounds.

Bulls 119, Heat 111

Justin Holiday scored 25 points and Zach LaVine added 18 as Chicago topped red-hot Miami 119-111 at the United Center in Chicago.

Goran Dragic had 22 points and nine assists in a loss that snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Heat, who won at the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.

Participating in only his second game of the season, LaVine is the latest player to add life to a Bulls squad that began the season 3-20, but has won 14 of its last 21. Limited to 20 minutes, he made 7 of 12 shots and added five rebounds and five assists.

Hornets 118, Pistons 107

Dwight Howard racked up 21 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks as Charlotte topped Detroit 118-107 in a matinee at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

Charlotte shot 45.5 per cent (10-of-22) from long distance to Detroit’s 51.7 per cent (15-of-29), but the Pistons allowed 68 second-half points, while losing for the fifth time in seven games.