San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Keys becomes first to reach quarterfinals
MELBOURNE — 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 Sunday.
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.
The second set was even more one-sided for the unseeded American, who broke Badosa in the first, third, fifth and seventh games to wrap up the win in 1:09 and earn her first quarterfinal berth in Australia since 2018.
The 24-year-old Badosa, who was also unbeaten this year after winning the Sydney International this month, made 10 double faults and lost her service game five times.
Keys will play the winner of two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka and French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
The temperature was expected to top 93 degrees as the fourth round began.
Top-ranked Ashleigh Barty was to continue her bid to break a long Australian Open drought when she played No. 60-ranked Amanda Anisimova. Barty was aiming to be the first Australian woman to win the championship here since 1978.
The 20-year-old Anisimova saved two match points in a stunning upset of defending champion Naomi Osaka in the third round.
In the men’s draw, Rafael Nadal continued his quest for a men’s record 21st Grand Slam singles title when he took on French left-hander Adrian Mannarino, while No. 3 Alexander Zverev faced a tricky match against Canada’s Denis Shapovalov.
Other matches included No. 7 Matteo Berrettini against Pablo Carreño Busta, and No. 17 Gael Monfils meeting Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic.
On the women’s side, Jessica Pegula faced fifth-seeded Maria Sakkari.