Australian Open: Dominic Thiem beats Taylor Fritz to reach fourth round

Fifth seed Dominic Thiem will face Gael Monfils in the Australian Open fourth round after beating Taylor Fritz 6-2 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-4.

The 26-year-old broke the American on three occasions to take a 2-0 lead before the 29th seed edged his Austrian opponent in the third-set tie-break.

Thiem secured victory in the 10th game of a tight fourth set when he broke his opponent to love.

Earlier, Monfils beat Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-3.

Stan Wawrinka, who won the title in 2014, moved into the fourth round when big-serving John Isner retired from their match with an apparent foot injury.

Swiss Wawrinka led 6-4 4-1 when the American pulled out.

Three-time Grand Slam winner Wawrinka will play either Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev or Australian Alexei Popyrin next.

Frenchman Monfils, seeded 10th, set up his meeting with Thiem as he converted five of his nine break points. He was much more controlled than Gulbis, who made 52 unforced errors compared to the his opponent’s 22.

Thiem said: “Gael and I have had great matches; always great rallies against him. It’s nice on court when you play him to see his show.”

Russian 17th seed Andrey Rublev recorded his 15th consecutive victory with a 2-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 7-6 (7-4) win over Belgian 11th seed David Goffin.

Rublev, who has won titles in Adelaide and Qatar this year, will now play German seventh seed Alexander Zverev in round four.

Zverev has yet to drop a set in the tournament after registering a 6-2 6-2 6-4 win over Spain’s Fernando Verdasco.