Tomas Berdych reaches Australian Open quarter-finals

Melbourne: Fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych defeated Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (13) on Sunday to advance to his third consecutive Australian Open quarterfinal.

Berdych, the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up, fought off five set points in the third set and finally closed it out on his fifth match point when Anderson hit a forehand long.

The Czech player has yet to drop a set in the tournament. He next plays the winner of Sunday's night match between No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 15 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland.

Anderson had upset No. 22-seeded Fernando Verdasco to reach the fourth round - his best showing at a major.