Aryna Sabalenka extended her reign as tiebreaker queen and booked her fourth straight appearance in the Australian Open quarterfinals before Carlos Alcaraz reached the last eight with a takedown of Tommy Paul.
Third-seeded Coco Gauff also advanced to her third straight quarter-final on Sunday with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 victory over crafty Czech Karolina Muchova in a late afternoon match at Margaret Court Arena.
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The biggest upset of the day was veteran Daniil Medvedev’s loss in straight sets at the hands of Lerner Tien.
A day after blistering heat caused mayhem and meltdowns at Melbourne Park, normal service resumed as a cooler change brought relief to players, fans and tournament schedulers.
Two-time champion and title contender Sabalenka took the lead, defeating the talented 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko in a half-match 6-1, 7-6 (1).
The Belarusian defeated the teen in a 31-minute first set and led 4-1 in the second, at his irresistible best until Mboko staged a thrilling fightback.
Breaking Sabalenka twice en route to a 6-5 lead, Mboko hit a wall as the Belarusian looked set for her 20th consecutive Grand Slam tiebreak victory.
“It’s unbelievable to see these kids go on tour,” said world number one Sabalenka, who has now reached her 13th straight Grand Slam quarterfinal.
“She really pushed me hard today.”
Having defeated one young cannon, Sabalenka will get another shot in the quarters with 18-year-old American Iva Jovic, who beat Kazakh veteran Yulia Putintseva 6-0, 6-1 at John Cain Arena, two days after defeating seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini.
Jovic became the youngest player to reach the Australian Open women’s quarterfinals without dropping a set since Venus Williams in 1998.
In the men’s tournament, there were few surprises at the strength of Mboko and Jovic, who were the first seeded players to shut out the last 16 at a Grand Slam in the professional era.
Top-seeded Alcaraz helped maintain the status quo despite facing perhaps the toughest test of the tournament against 2023 semifinalist Paul, the 19th seed.
Despite all of Paul’s credentials, Alcaraz emerged on cruise control in the afternoon sun at Rod Laver Arena and won 7-6 (6), 6-4, 7-5.
Once a staunch opponent of Alcaraz, Paul has now lost to the Spaniard in three Grand Slams after losing badly in the quarter-finals of last year’s French Open and losing at Wimbledon in 2024.
“The way I would describe it is, you know, I think he kind of suffocates you in a way,” Paul said of Alcaraz.
“He makes you feel like you don’t have time.”
Two-time Grand Slam champion Gauff survived three match points to see off a decent scrap victory over former semifinalist and No. 19 seed Muchova.
Gauff was the winner with a scoreline of 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
“She definitely elevated her game, and I thought she was a little passive at times,” Gauff said. She will face the winner of the match between Elina Svitolina and Mila Andreeva in the quarterfinals.
“I’m really happy that we were able to overcome this situation today.
“I don’t think we panicked today. … We knew we had to take advantage of our chances in the third set, and we did that.”
Later in the day, last year’s runner-up Alexander Zverev remained on track to win his elusive first Grand Slam title, defeating Francisco Cerundro 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.
The 28-year-old German has lost all three Grand Slam title matches he has played so far, including last year’s final against Jannik Sinner at Melbourne Park, and this time he has stayed away from the spotlight as he looks for another chance.
“I’m very happy with the match and the performance. I’m really happy to be back in the quarterfinals,” Zverev said on court, dodging questions about whether he was playing his best tennis.
“I don’t want to create a jinx. I’m going to keep my mouth shut. But to get to the quarterfinals, we need to play at a high level. I want to continue the same way.”
Zverev will face American Tien, who overcame a nosebleed in the opening set to beat Medvedev 6-4, 6-0, 6-3 in the second half.
Tien defeated Medvedev in the second round of last year’s Australian Open in an epic five-setter that lasted nearly five hours, but this time the match took just one hour and 42 minutes at Margaret Court Arena.
Tien took a medical timeout 10 minutes into the fourth round by stuffing his nose with a tissue, but it did little to stop his dominance on the court, with Medvedev looking completely lost during numerous rallies.
Medvedev said he didn’t like facing Tien after their three-fight fight last year, but the 20-year-old proved himself right with a clinical performance that included 33 winners.
