Wawrinka defeats Garcia-Lopez to reach quarter-finals

Melbourne, Jan 26 (IANS) Defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka survived Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-6(2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(8) in their fourth-round match at the Australian Open tennis tournament here Monday in Melbourne. After Garcia-Lopez broke again for a 5-4 lead, the 29-year-old Swiss promptly broke back as the Spaniard attempted to serve out the first set. The eventual first-set tie-break went Wawrinka’s way in 54 minutes. He then got an early break for a 2-1 lead in the third set, but Garcia-Lopez fought to break back for 4-all and needed just one set point on Wawrinka’s serve to sink his teeth into the match and force a fourth set.