British hope Edmund reaches Open round of 16

Britain's Kyle Edmund reached the round of 16 for the first time at the Australian Open with a fighting five-set win over Nikoloz Basilashvili on Friday.

The 49th-ranked Edmund fought back taking the last two sets in blistering heat to win 7-6 (7/0), 3-6, 4-6, 6-0, 7-5 in 3hr 34min on Show Court Two.

He turned the match by winning a marathon 20-minute second game in the fourth set, which ebbed and flowed for 15 deuces with the British player taking it on his eighth break point.

From there he powered on and edged out the Georgian in a tight fifth set.

Edmund, who upset 11th seed Kevin Anderson in the opening round and followed it up with a win over Denis Istomin, will now face either Croatia's 38-year-old Ivo Karlovic or Italian Andreas Seppi in Sunday's fourth round.

Edmund, the only British man in the main draw after Andy Murray's injury withdrawal, reached the round of 16 at the 2016 US Open where he fell to Novak Djokovic.

The British player hit 20 aces among his 70 winners and broke Basilashvili's serve seven times from 27 opportunities for his second career win over the Georgian.

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