Nadal closes in on Slams record
Melbourne, Feb. 15: 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, 62 against the flamboyant Italian, which set up a quarter-final against Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Fognini had registered a five-set win over Nadal at the 2015 US Open, but the Spaniard cantered to victory after recovering from 2-4 down in the second set.
Nadal is now into his 43rd Grand Slam quarter-final, staying on course for a title match with eight-time winner Novak Djokovic who battled through an abdominal injury to reach the last eight on Sunday.
Next up for Nadal is world number six Tsitsipas, who went through on a walkover after Italy’s Matteo Berrettini pulled out with an abdominal strain.
As the action continued in front of empty stands, top-ranked Barty beat bighitting American Shelby Rogers in impressive fashion to reach the last eight.
Barty won 6-3, 6-4 to go into the quarter-finals without dropping a set as she bids to become the first Australian champion since Chris O’Neil in 1978.
The former French Open champion next plays Karolina Muchova, who came through two tight sets to beat Belgium’s Elise Mertens 7-6 (7/5), 7-5.
RUSSIANS ARE COMING
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, whose billionaire father owns the Buffalo Bills NFL team, 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 Croatia’s Donna Vekic.
Elsewhere, fourth seed Daniil Medvedev and seventh seed Andrey Rublev both won to ensure an allRussian quarter-final.
Medvedev blew away American world number
192 Mackenzie McDonald 64, 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.