Nadal eases past Fognini, Barty raises home hopes
MELBOURNE: Rafael Nadal outclassed Fabio Fognini to close in on the all-time Grand Slam titles record on Monday as Ashleigh Barty ramped up hopes of becoming the Australian Open’s first home winner in 43 years.
Nadal said his lower-back stiffness was continuing to improve after his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 against the Italian, which set up a quarter-final against Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas. Tsitsipas had a walkover after Italy’s Matteo Berrettini pulled out with an abdominal strain.
As the action continued in front of empty stands, topranked Barty beat big-hitting American Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-4 to reach the last eight without dropping a set.
The former French Open champion next plays Karolina Muchova, who came through two tight sets to beat Belgium’s Elise Mertens 7-6(5), 7-5.
Earlier, unseeded American Jessica Pegula reached her maiden Grand Slam quarter-final with victory over Elina Svitolina, her first over a top-10 player. Pegula overcame fifth seed Svitolina 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to set up a meeting with fellow American Jennifer Brady, a 6-1, 7-5 winner against Donna Vekic.
Elsewhere, fourth seed Daniil Medvedev and seventh seed Andrey Rublev both won to ensure an all-russian quarterfinal. Medvedev blew away American world No. 192 Mackenzie Mcdonald 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 to extend his winning streak to 18 matches.
Rublev, who is also unbeaten this year, went through when Norway’s Casper Ruud retired after losing the first two sets.
Djokovic’s fitness test
Eight-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, who has concerns over an abdominal injury, will take on sixthseeded German and 2020 US Open finalist Alexander Zverev as the quarter-final action begins from Tuesday.
In the other last-eight ties, Serena Williams will take on Simona Halep in a mouth-watering clash, while Naomi Osaka faces unorthodox 35-year-old Hsieh Su-wei, a first time Slam quarter-finalist. Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev will look to continue his run when he takes on Grigor Dimitrov.
TV timings: Live on Sony Six, Ten 2 & 3, 5.30am & 1.30pm