Keys, Medvedev reach 4th round
MELBOURNE, Australia — Former U.S. Open finalist Madison Keys became the first woman to reach this year’s Australian Open quarterfinals with a dominant 6-3, 6-1 victory over eighth-seed Spaniard Paula Badosa on Saturday.
The 26-year-old American, who defeated 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the first round, never looked troubled against the higherranked Badosa in their first career meeting, racking up 26 winners as she continued her unbeaten start to the year.
Keys, who claimed her sixth career title last week in Adelaide, raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first set before consolidating her advantage to close out the first set in 32 minutes.
Keys will play French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova in Tuesday’s quarterfinals. Krejcikova breezed to a 6-2, 6-2 win over two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka on Sunday to reach the quarterfinals for the third time in four Grand Slam events.
Krejcikova went into her match against Azarenka believing the former 32-year-old, former No. 1-ranked player from Belarus was the favorite to win.
“She’s a champion here. She likes this court. She’s very experienced on this court. I have a lot of respect for her,” Krejcikova said. “(But) I was doing everything to get this one, really preparing for a dream like this.
“And yeah, I’m in the quarterfinals.”
The fourth-seeded Krejcikova needed only 85 minutes to beat the 2012 and 2013 champion, who made 28 unforced errors and dropped five service games.
In later matches, top-ranked Ash Barty was scheduled to play No. 60-ranked Amanda Anisimova, who saved two match points before upsetting defending champion Naomi Osaka in the third round.
The winner of that match between Barty and Anisimova will play No. 21-seeded Jessica Pegula, who beat fifth-seeded Maria Sakkari 7-6 (0), 6-3 on Margaret Court Arena.
In the men’s draw, Rafael Nadal continued his quest for a men’s record 21st Grand Slam singles title when he defeated French lefthander Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (16), 6-2, 6-2.
Earlier, Daniil Medvedev, who lost last year’s Australian Open final to Novak Djokovic but avenged that with a victory over the Serb for the U.S. Open title, reached the fourth round for the fourth straight year at Melbourne Park with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win over Botic van de Zandschulp.
The 25-year-old Russian was a conspicuous fan favorite on Margaret Court Arena two days after being unsettled by the boos and jeers of a parochial crowd on Rod Laver Arena when he ended the run of Aussie Nick Kyrgios.
He was critical of a lack of respect in that match — mostly about the noise between first and second serves — and this time offered some relationship advice to the crowd.
“Every good relationship must have its ups and downs,” he said in his on-court TV interview, explaining that he planned to be back on court quite often. “I hope it’s going to be more good times than bad times, otherwise it doesn’t work.”
Medvedev later clarified that he didn’t have a problem with the Australian crowds and had been fully expecting to have them against him when he played Kyrgios — just not while he was in his service motion.
“The other night I was playing against an Australian player, very electric Australian player,” he said. “After the match, I think it was, yeah, straightaway pretty actually fun for everybody. That’s how I felt.”
Medvedev avoided a showdown with Djokovic after the world’s top-ranked player was deported on the eve of the tournament for failing to meet Australia’s strict COVID-19 vaccination criteria. He also avoided another match against an Australian in the fourth round when wildcard entry Chris O’Connell lost to Maxime Cressy 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-2.
Cressy’s win means there’s two 24-year-old Americans who’ll be in the fourth round of a major for their first time.
No. 70-ranked Cressy is in his fourth Grand Slam tournament. No. 20-ranked Taylor Fritz finally made it in his 22nd attempt, with a 6-0, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 15 Roberto Bautista Agut, and said it “means a ton.”
Fritz next plays French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas, who fended off Benoit Paire 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (2), 6-4.
No. 9 Felix Auger-Aliassime progressed with a 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 win over No. 24 Dan Evans, winning 14 of the last 16 games, and will next face 33-year-old Marin Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion and a runner-up in Australia in 2018.
Cilic upset fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev 7-5, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3 just before midnight in the last singles match completed on Day 6.
On the women’s side secondseeded Aryna Sabalenka advanced with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 over No. 31 Marketa Vondrousova.