The beautiful epic ends abruptly. Gaël Monfils was unable to complete his round of 16 against Ben Shelton, Monday January 20, at the Australian Open. After three marathon first sets, all concluded in a tie-break (7-6(7/3), 6-7(7/3), 7-6(7-2), 1-0), the French veteran gave up the sponge and left the court to the applause of the public and his opponent. With this abandonment, there are now no more French representatives involved in the Australian Major.
World number one Jannik Sinner will be there. The Italian won against the Dane Holger Rune, 13th in the world, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. At 23, he thus qualifies for his 10th Grand Slam quarter-final, and joins his compatriot Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian player to have reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam ten times. The defending champion was more bothered by the heat, with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees on Monday in Melbourne, than by his valiant opponent. Both players called a medical timeout in the third set and play was stopped in the fourth set after a Sinner serve ripped out the hoop securing the net to the ground.
The beautiful epic of Learner Tien has come to an end. The American nugget, sensation at the start of the Tournament, was dominated by Lorenzo Sonego (55th) in the round of 16 (6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1). The Italian, qualified for the first Grand Slam quarter-final of his career, is now waiting for Ben Shelton.
-Elina Svitolina also validated her ticket to the quarter-finals after her victory against Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 6-1. Despite a rocky start, where the Ukrainian was led 4-1 in the first set, she nevertheless held her place against the 75th in the world. “I just tried to fight, it’s the only thing you can do when things aren’t going your way,” reacted Elina Svitolina during the post-match interview.
For her eighth Grand Slam quarter-final, the third in Melbourne, she will face the American Madison Keys (14th), who defeated the Kazakhstani Elena Rybakina (7th), in three sets 6-3, 1-6, 6 -3. The American, who has the most victories (11) on the WTA circuit since the start of the season, intends to capitalize on this good form to reach the final four in Melbourne for the third time in her career, after 2015 and 2022.
