HIGHLIGHTS-Tennis-Australian Open day five

Highlights of Friday's fifth day of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year (all times GMT):

1400 CILIC SURVIVES VERDASCO TEST

After saving two match points in the fourth set tiebreak, sixth seed Marin Cilic overcame Spanish 35-year-old Fernando Verdasco 4-6 3-6 6-1 7-6(8) 6-3 to reach the last 16.

1215 BIRTHDAY GIRL KERBER THROUGH TO SECOND WEEK

Second seed Angelique Kerber celebrated her 31st birthday with a 6-1 6-0 win over Australian wildcard Kimberly Birrell.

The German Wimbledon champion will next face American Danielle Collins for a place in the quarter-finals.

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Kyrgios is better on court than behind mike, says Federer

Sizzling Sharapova back in Grand Slam contention

Dimitrov happy to fly under the radar in Melbourne

Aggressive Sharapova eliminates holder Wozniacki

Maria Sharapova v Caroline Wozniacki - match stats

Sharapova raps Australian Open organisers over late scheduling

Barty party continues with Sakkari win

US teen Anisimova announces arrival with Sabalenka upset

Tomic denies Hewitt allegations, calls him "liar" - report

Australian Open order of play on Saturday

1045 RAFA RACES INTO ROUND FOUR

Second seed Rafa Nadal was not pleased by a time violation from chair umpire Carlos Ramos on his sixth match point but he got the job done by beating Australian number one Alex de Minaur 6-1 6-2 6-4.

The Spaniard becomes the first player to start an Australian Open campaign by defeating three opponents representing Australia since Phil Dent in 1979.

When asked about fourth round opponent Tomas Berdych, Nadal said: "He has been off the court for a while but he played the first week of the season and did it well.

"He has confidence after the comeback. When you are playing well after a tough time with injuries, that helps the energy even more. I predict a very tough match."

0823 TIAFOE OUTLASTS SEPPI

Frances Tiafoe was pushed to five sets in the third round but found a way past Italian Andreas Seppi to seal a 6-7(3) 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-3 win in three hours and 17 minutes.

The American, who stunned fifth seed Kevin Anderson in the previous round, takes on Grigor Dimitrov next.

0712 DIMITROV DOWNS FABBIANO

Grigor Dimitrov endured a stern test early in his third round match against Italian Thomas Fabbiano before the 20th seed prevailed 7-6(5) 6-4 6-4 in a little over two hours.

0708 SHARAPOVA KNOCKS OUT WOZNIACKI

Former champion Maria Sharapova battled past holder Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 4-6 6-3 in a third round thriller.

Denmark's Wozniacki raced to a 4-1 lead in the opening set but Sharapova raised her level and reeled off the next five games to grab the early advantage in the contest.

The second set followed a similar pattern before Wozniacki took advantage of Sharapova's sloppy serving late on to drag the match into a decider.

The Russian was not to be denied in the third set, however, as she closed out the win on her second match point in two hours and 24 minutes.

0704 STEPHENS OVERCOMES MARTIC

American Sloane Stephens, seeded fifth, beat Croatia's Petra Martic 7-6(6) 7-6(5) to move into the fourth round where she meets Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Former U.S. Open champion Stephens has won both previous meetings with the unseeded Russian, including a three-set victory at Beijing last year.

0439 TEENAGER ANISIMOVA DISMISSES SABALENKA

American teenager Amanda Anisimova pulled off an upset by swatting aside 11th seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-3 6-2.

The unseeded 17-year-old, who reached the quarter-finals at Auckland earlier this month, prevailed in 65 minutes to set up a fourth-round clash with Petra Kvitova or Belinda Bencic.

0344 FEDERER TOO GOOD FOR UNSEEDED FRITZ

Holder Roger Federer cruised past unseeded American Taylor Fritz 6-2 7-5 6-2 in 88 minutes for his third consecutive straight-sets win in this year's tournament.

0320 BERDYCH QUELLS SCHWARTZMAN CHALLENGE

Tomas Berdych dropped the opening set but recovered to overcome Diego Schwartzman 5-7 6-3 7-5 6-4. The Czech missed the last six months of 2018 due to a back issue but has since returned to form, reaching the final of the Qatar Open earlier this month.

0310 TSITSIPAS POWERS PAST BASILASHVILI

Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3 3-6 7-6(7) 6-4 to reach the last 16 at Melbourne for the first time and equal his best Grand Slam result.

0150 BARTY WINS FIRST MATCH OF THE DAY

Australia's Ashleigh Barty beat Maria Sakkari 7-5 6-1 under a closed roof at Rod Laver Arena following morning showers.

The temperature at Melbourne Park was hovering around the 25 degrees Celsius mark on a cloudy day. (Compiled by Shrivathsa Sridhar and Hardik Vyas; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)

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