Murray beats Isner, moves to Aussie Open quarters

MELBOURNE, Australia - Britain's Andy Murray is into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open after beating American John Isner, 7-6 (6-4), 6-3, 6-2.

Murray broke Isner's serve in the seventh game of the final set when Isner netted a forehand. Isner, angry with the shot, flung his racket to the ground in disgust, breaking it.

Murray, attempting to win his first Grand Slam title, could play defending champion Rafael Nadal in the next round. Nadal was scheduled to play Croatia's Ivo Karlovic in the next match at Rod Laver Arena Sunday.

The loss was the big-serving Isner's first in nine. He won five matches en route to his first ATP title at Auckland 10 days ago.

China's Zheng Jie has become the first player into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open after beating No. 31 Alona Bondarenko, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.

Zheng broke Bondarenko's eight-match winning streak this year and became the first Chinese player ever to reach the quarterfinals at the Australian Open.

Bondarenko had won the Hobart tournament last week, where she beat Zheng in the quarterfinals.

It was Zheng's first straight-sets win in Melbourne this week.

She broke Bondarenko's serve in the ninth game of the final set.

When Zheng and Li Na both advanced to the fourth round, it was the first time two Chinese players had gone so far at the same major.

Earlier, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Tommy Haas of Germany, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 and has a victory dance he reserves for the Australian Open. He even demonstrated it twice.

The routine is simple, yet a crowd-pleaser: he skips across the court flexing his biceps with his thumbs pointing at his head.

Minutes later when former tennis star-turned-commentator Jim Courier walked on-court to congratulate Tsonga and asked him to, please, do it one more time.

So he did, in slow motion and with a big smile.

The charismatic 24-year-old from France is a showman. He rallies the crowd for cheers, and hops, skips and jumps around the court to pump up the energy of a packed stadium.

"It's better to play in front of 10,000 people than two people," said Tsonga, who played in front of closer to 15,000 people Saturday. "I enjoy every moment, every match, every point I play on this court." Tsonga first did the dance two years ago in Melbourne Park on his surprising run to the 2008 final, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.

"It's something I did the first time [two] years ago," he told Courier, who drew laughs by attempting the dance. "The crowd liked that. And every time I'm obliged to do it."

Tsonga will face 26th-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain in the fourth round.