By Tennis Now | Sunday, January 21, 2018
An electrifying night match escalated into a fourth-set tie break.
Then Grigor Dimitrov found the light.
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The third-ranked Dimitrov drilled a running forehand pass on match point edging Nick Kyrgios, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (4) to charge into the Australian Open quarterfinals for the second straight year.
This blockbuster rematch of the Cincinnati final lived up to the hype.
A fired-up Kyrgios cracked 76 winners, including 36 aces, and fought the ATP Finals champion from first to last ball.
When Kyrgios slapped a bounce-smash into net, Dimitrov had the crucial fourth-set break and served for the match at 5-3 only to see Kyrgios come right back to break.
A tremendous Dimitrov forehand down the line helped him carve out the mini-break in the fourth-set tie break.
Dimitrov delivered the running pass brilliance to close in three hours, 26 minutes.
The 2017 semifinalist will face Briton Kyle Edmund for a spot in the final four.
Edmund dispatched Andreas Seppi, 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-2, 6-3.
Dimitrov defeated Edmund in the Brisbane quarterfinals earlier this month after the Brit injured his ankle.
The winner of the Edmund-Dimitrov match will face world No. 1 Rafael Nadal or 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic in the semifinals.