Tsitsipas, Nadal to meet in Australian quarters

No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal earned an appearance in his 13th Australian Open quarter-final with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 over Italian Fabio Fognini on Monday in Melbourne.

Nadal, the 2009 champion, needed two hours and 16 minutes to defeat Fognini, the 16th seed. Nadal moved to 13-4 against his opponent.

“When you go on court against Fabio, you worry,”

Nadal said after the match. “There can always be problems.”

Nadal had Fognini on his heels much of the match, earning 19 break points and converting six of them. Nadal committed 20 unforced errors, compared to 35 for Fognini.

Next up for Nadal, who is seeking a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam title, will be Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece. The No. 5 seed, Tsitsipas advanced in a walkover when No. 9 seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy withdrew because of an abdominal strain.

Nadal, of Spain, has a 6-1 record against the 22-yearold Tsitsipas.

Monday's action also set up an all-Russian quarter-final, with No. 4 seed Daniil Medvedev and No. 7 Andrey Rublev advancing.

On the women's side, topranked Ash Barty sealed a dominant 6-3, 6-4 victory over American Shelby Rogers to reach at least the quarter-finals for the third year in a row.

“We're not done yet,” said Barty, who lost in the semifinals at her home Grand Slam last year. “It's exciting to be in another quarter-final of a Grand Slam, particularly here in Australia ... but certainly not satisfied with where we're at — at the moment.

“We will keep chipping away and keep trying to do the right things to progress as far as we can.”

She will face 25th seed Karolina Muchova in the last eight after the Czech beat Belgium's Elise Mertens 7-6(5), 7-5.

Jessica Pegula continued her dream run in Melbourne with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over Ukrainian fifth seed Elina Svitolina to set up an all-American quarter-final against Jennifer Brady, who beat Croatia's Donna Vekic 6-1, 7-5.

In women's doubles, Canada's Sharon Fichman and partner Giuliana Olmos advanced with a win over Montreal's Leylah Annie Fernandez and Heather Watson, while Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski and Mate Pavic moved into the fourth round of mixed doubles.