MELBOURNE, Australia: The Latest at the Australian Open on Monday (all times local):
12:15 a.m. (Tuesday)
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Kaia Kanepi advanced to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in the final two matches on Day 8 of the tournament.
The fourth-seeded Tsitsipas beat Taylor Fritz 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the mens fourth round on Rod Laver Arena and the 115th-ranked Kanepi upset second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7).
Tsitsipas last year rallied from two sets down to beat Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals before losing to Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals. He went on to reach the French Open final.
Fritz was playing in the fourth round of a major for the first time.
The women’s fourth-round match was scheduled for the main court but had to be shifted to the adjoining Margaret Court Arena because of a late-finishing day session.
Kanepi wasted four match points when she served for the match in the third set before finally clinching it in the tiebreaker.
The 36-year-old Estonian is into the quarterfinals at the Australian Open for the first time, finally completing a Grand Slam set after twice making it to the last eight at each of the other three major tournaments.
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6:40 p.m.
U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev has advanced to the Australian Open quarterfinals with a 6-2, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 7-5 win over Maxime Cressy.
The No. 2-ranked Medvedev is trying to be the first man in the Open era to win his second major singles title in the next Grand Slam event.
Hes now potentially three wins from winning back-to-back major titles.
Medvedev was a runner-up in Australia last year but avenged that with a win over Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open final. Djokovic isnt defending his Australian Open title after being deported on the eve of the years first major for failing to meet the countrys strict COVID-19 vaccination rules.
Medvedev had to struggle against the No. 70-ranked Cressy in a match lasting 3 1/2 hours. Cressy saved eight break-point chances in the fourth set before Medvedev got the decisive break in the 11th game, then served out at love to finish it off.
Medvedev will next play ninth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, who beat 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic 2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2, 7-6 (4). Medvedev beat the Canadian in the semifinals at last year’s U.S. Open.
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5 p.m.
Alize Cornet survived a second-set meltdown to advance to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal after 63 main-draw appearances with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over Simona Halep.
Cornet led by a set and 3-1 before losing five consecutive games and 16 straight points to send the match to a decider.
Halep saved two match points on her serve in the ninth game before Cornet clinched the match in the 10th. She dropped to her knees and clasped her hands together as she looked up to her support team when Halep netted a return.
Cornet had a 3-1 lead in their head-to-head meetings and improved on that record in the Rod Laver Arena fourth-rounder. Cornet will next play Danielle Collins, who beat Elise Mertens on the same court in the opening match of the day 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Cornet made her Grand Slam singles debut as a wild-card entry at the 2005 French Open. She is the first French woman to reach an Australian Open quarterfinal since Marion Bartoli in 2009.
Halep won the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019. She lost the 2018 Australian Open final to Caroline Wozniacki.
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2:10 p.m.
Danielle Collins took advantage of Elise Mertens’ double fault on match point to advance to the quarterfinals and join two other Americans in the final eight at Melbourne Park. Collins advanced 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 and will play the winner of the following match on Rod Laver Arena between two-time major winner Simona Halep and Alize Cornet. Jessica Pergula and Madison Keys are the other Americans in the quarterfinals and will play their matches on Tuesday. It is the second year in a row that three Americans have featured in the quarterfinals.
Later, U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev was scheduled to take on Maxime Cressy in the fourth round as Medvedev continues his bid to become the first man in the Open era to win a second Grand Slam singles title at the next major tournament.
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10:50 a.m.
American Danielle Collins kicks off the second week of the year’s first Grand Slam tournament when she plays Elise Mertens in the opening match on Rod Laver Arena in the fourth round. The pair have met just once before at a major, when Mertens won in straight sets at Wimbledon in 2018. Two-time major winner Simona Halep faces Alize Cornet in the next match and later No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka plays Kaia Kanepi. U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev will take on No. 70-ranked Maxime Cressy in the fourth round as Medvedev continues his bid to become the first man in the Open era to win a second Grand Slam singles title at the next major tournament. In other matches, fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas faces No. 20 Taylor Fritz and 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic plays Felix Auger-Aliassime.
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