Kokkinakis, Hijikata advance in Adelaide

Australia's Rinky Hijikata has advanced to the quarter-finals at the Adelaide International. (Matt Turner/AAP PHOTOS)

Home-town favourite Thannasi Kokkinakis has set up a tasty Adelaide International clash with Sebastian Korda on a day of mixed fortunes for Australian hopes.

Kokkinakis, winner of the event three years ago, advanced to the quarter-finals with a gripping 7-5 4-6 7-6 (7-4) victory over Tomas Martin Etcheverry on his favourite court at Memorial Drive on Wednesday night.

Thanasi
Thanasi Kokkinakis (pic) was egged on by local fans in his tight win over Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

The world No.77 blasted 23 aces and prevailed in a rollercoaster tiebreak to decide a match that lasted more than three hours, eventually sending the eighth-seeded Argentine packing in front of a raucous crowd.

"I don't love playing anywhere else more than this - you guys are incredible," Kokkinakis said post-match.

"I knew it was going to be a battle. Tomas is a hell of a player and I thought I was almost a bit lucky to sneak the first set.

"Then, honestly, for the second and third I thought maybe I was on top, but that's tennis.

"I thought I should've lost the first and won the second, but that's how it is and I knew it was going to be a dog-fight, so I just tried to stay calm and got out of a couple of tricky situations.

"You guys were, again, humongous. I don't know if I would've done it without you."

Kokkinakis will next face American second seed Korda, who swept aside Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3 6-3 earlier on Wednesday.

Fellow Australian Rinky Hijikata also advanced with a tough three-set win over Brandon Nakashima - 6-2 3-6 7-6 (7-5) - but Chris O'Connell and Li Tu bowed out.

O'Connell was beaten 7-6 (7-1) 6-2 by Serbia's Miomir Kecmanovic, while Tu was handed a 6-3 6-3 loss by French qualifier Benjamin Bonzi.

Kecmanovic will meet Bonzi in the quarter-finals, while world No.79 Hijikata faces a huge task against top-seeded American Tommy Paul.

Paul, the world No.12, shook of France's Manuel Guinard 6-4 3-6 6-3 on Wednesday to book his quarter-finals berth.

Canada's fifth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime will face American Marcos Giron after coming from a set down to defeat France's Arthur Cazaux, 1-6 6-4 7-5.

Also on Wednesday, Giron beat Denis Shapovalov 7-5 6-2 to advance to the last eight.

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