Alcaraz expects Djokovic in the quarters, Sabalenka and Gauff also qualified

World No.3 Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Sunday, where he could find Novak Djokovic (7th), who will play his round of 16 at the start of the evening in Melbourne and will try to follow the example of Aryna Sabalenka (1st) and Coco Gauff (3rd), already qualified.

Alcaraz attends Djokovic

On the Rod Laver Arena court, Carlos Alcaraz (3rd) won the first two sets on Sunday against Jack Draper (18th) before the Briton gave up.

At the very start of the season, Draper gave up playing in the United Cup due to a hip injury. In Melbourne, he won his first three matches in five sets.

Present in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the second year in a row, Alcaraz hopes to go ” further “ this year and win the only Grand Slam title he is missing.

At the start of the evening, the ten-time winner of the Australian Open Novak Djokovic (7th) must face the Czech Jiri Lehecka (29th) in the Rod Laver Arena. If the Serbian wins, he will face Alcaraz in the quarter-finals.

World No.2 Alexander Zverev, for his part, began his round of 16 match against Frenchman Ugo Humbert (14th) late in the afternoon.

The winner of the duel will face in the quarter-finals the American Tommy Paul (11th), easy winner of Alejandro Davidovich (66th).

Appearing to be hit in the right hip, after two five-set victories in the second and third rounds, the Spaniard sought treatment between the first and second sets. He finally lost 6-1, 6-1, 6-1.

Sabalenka in demonstration, Gauff in three sets

Double title holder in Melbourne, Aryna Sabalenka, imperial against the young Russian Mirra Andreeva (15th), was on Sunday the first player to qualify for the quarter-finals.

The Belarusian, winner of the Brisbane tournament at the beginning of January, won 6-1, 6-2 in just over an hour on the court of the Rod Laver Arena.

The world No.1 will face Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (32nd) to try to secure a place in the last four.

Pavlyuchenkova, who leads 2-1 in her confrontations with Sabalenka, recalled that her victories were dated back (2019 and 2021).

Belarus “has clearly become another player now, very powerful. I don’t know what to expect.”recognized the dean of the women’s table (33 years old), « surprise » to be in the quarter-finals after a preseason approached more “comfortable” than in the past.

On Sunday, Sabalenka won his 18th match in a row in Melbourne, a performance not seen since 2014.

After the rapid success of the Belarusian, Coco Gauff needed three sets (5-7, 6-2, 6-1) and around 2h30 to overcome ex-N.4 Belinda Bencic, who fell to 294th rank after a break from the circuit to give birth to a daughter.

Olympic champion in 2021, Bencic “played really well in the first set, I had trouble being on the offensive”said Gauff after her victory, the first in three sets since her victorious final in early November at the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia.

“I played more aggressively in the 2nd and 3rd sets”continued the American, undefeated since November and opposed to the Spaniard Paula Badosa (12th) for a place in the last four.

The 2023 US Open winner’s success against Bencic constitutes her 13th victory in a row.

Paula Badosa beat Serbian Olga Danilovic (55th) earlier in the afternoon with a score of 6-1, 7-6 (7/2). The Spaniard equals the best performance of her Grand Slam career, having reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros in 2021 and the US Open in 2024.

A possible first semi-final “would represent a lot” for Badosa, who however warned that she still lacked experience in the quarter-finals of major tournaments.

For Gauff, Badosa “is riding a good dynamic. She can serve well on both ends of the court, she moves really well and knows how to play aggressively. She’s a tough opponent.”warned the American, who lost 3 of her 6 previous matches against the Spaniard.