Jessica Pegula knocked podcast pal and defending champion Madison Keys out of the Australian Open on Monday and moved into a quarterfinal against Amanda Anisimova, another all-American match.
Their fourth-round wins on Day 9 meant four Americans reached the women's singles quarterfinals in Australia for the first time since 2001, when Serena and Venus Williams, Jennifer Capriati, Monica Seles and Lindsay Davenport made it to the last 8.
Pegula's 6-3, 6-4 win ended Keys' first Grand Slam title defence in a tough section of the draw. Anisimova, runner-up at the last two majors in Wimbledon and the US Open, advanced 7-6 (4), 6-4 over Wang Xinyu. Pegula is into the quarterfinals for the fourth time in Australia but has never previously gone beyond that round at the season-opening major.
Sinner advances with straight-set win
Jannik Sinner may have felt lucky to survive the Australian Open third round but he rebounded quickly in a straight-sets win on Monday over fellow Italian Luciano Darderi to reach the quarterfinals for a ninth consecutive Grand Slam event.
He was cruising until Darderi lifted his tempo in the third set. Second-ranked Sinner missed match points in the 10th game on his opponent's serve, but then clinched the match 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).
Bhambri out, Indian challenge ends
India's challenge at the Australian Open came to an end on Sunday after Yuki Bhambri and his Swedish partner Andre Goransson bowed out in the third round of the men's doubles. Bhambri and Goransson went down 6-7(7), 3-6 to Brazil’s unseeded pairing of Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos in a closely contested match that lasted just over an hour.
The Indo-Swedish combination fought hard in the opening set but failed to capitalise in the tie-break, and the Brazilians maintained their composure to seal the second set without much trouble. With Bhambri’s exit, India’s campaign at the season’s first Grand Slam has concluded.
Bhambri had already made an earlier exit from the mixed doubles, while N Sriram Balaji had bowed out previously from the men's doubles. Maaya Rajeshwaran and Arnav Paparkar exited the junior Australian Open on Saturday with first-round exits.
Also read: Sabalenka powers into Australian Open quarterfinals
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