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Wawrinka downs Seppi in three tight sets at Australian Open

The 2014 Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka has two other Grand Slam titles -- the 2015 French Open and the 2016 US Open -- to his name

Stan Wawrinka warned he was getting stronger as the Australian Open goes on as he swept past Italian Andreas Seppi to reach the quarter-finals on Sunday. The US Open champion was taken to five sets by Martin Klizan in the first round but he is warming to the task and beat Seppi 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/4). "Probably my level, confidence," Wawrinka said, when asked why he was so hard to beat in the latter stages of tournaments. "Mentally I know I can beat any player on any day. "It's tough to say. I'm just focused on myself. I think in general, my level, when I'm at the top of my game, I can beat any player." Wawrinka, the 2014 champion, will next play French 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat Britain's Dan Evans 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. The Swiss leads Tsonga 4-3 in their head-to head. "I think this match was the best match of the tournament so far, that's for sure," Wawrinka said of his victory over Seppi. "I'm not really worrying about trying to improve every match, trying to play better or not. I know that my level is there, that physically I'm feeling good." He added that he was surprised by top-ranked Andy Murray's upset by Mischa Zverev, which along with Novak Djokovic's exit offers a big chance to the remaining players. "It's big surprise that they are not in the draw anymore, but my next match is the quarter-final," he said. "I'm not thinking about semi or final, that I will not have to play Andy or Novak. That's the last thing in my head... I just think it's an interesting tournament." In a tight struggle on Margaret Court Arena, Wawrinka only converted two of his nine break point opportunities and dropped his serve twice to Seppi. It was Wawrinka's ninth win in 12 encounters with the Italian, who knocked out Australia's big hope Nick Kyrgios in the second round. Wawrinka hit 17 aces, 53 winners and made 41 unforced errors in overcoming Seppi to move into the second week of the Grand Slam. Among Wawrinka's three Grand Slam titles is his win over Rafael Nadal in Melbourne three years ago, when he became the first player to defeat the top two seeds en route to a major title since Spaniard Sergei Bruguera won Roland Garros in 1993. Wawrinka also won the 2015 French Open and last year's US Open, both times conquering Djokovic.