MELBOURNE, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Defending men's champion Jannik Sinner and women's second seed Iga Swiatek had contrasting fourth round victories on Monday as several players wilted under searing conditions at the Australian Open.
Australia's title hope Alex de Minaur also progressed, but former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina crashed out.
In hot and sunny conditions on Rod Laver Arena, top seed Sinner overcame adversity to battle past gutsy 13th seed Holger Rune.
Having dropped the second set, an ailing Sinner's title defence appeared to be hanging by a thread when he required medical treatment in the third set.
Sinner looked exhausted and was visibly shaking before he won 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a see-sawing match lasting three hours and 13 minutes.
The two-time Grand Slam champion will next play de Minaur, who beat 20-year-old Alex Michelsen 6-0, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
"It was very, very tough. I knew he had some tough matches and I tried to stay connected with my serving and returning game," Sinner said.
Veteran Lorenzo Sonego reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal after beating 19-year-old qualifier Learner Tien 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
The 29-year-old was unstoppable on serve and handled the stifling conditions better than Tien, whose breakout tournament was highlighted by an upset of fifth seed Daniil Medvedev in round two.
Sonego will next play 21st seed Ben Shelton, who progressed after 38-year-old Gael Monfils pulled the pin as his gruelling run finally took its toll.
Shelton led 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (2), 1-0 after almost three hours as Monfils succumbed having in his previous match impressively defeated fourth seed Taylor Fritz in four sets.
But it was better news for 28th seed Elina Svitolina, Monfils' wife, who was the first women's player through to the last eight.
She overcame a slow start to power past Russia's Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 6-1 in one hour and 23 minutes.
It's been a resurgence for former world No.3 Svitolina, who reached the quarterfinals in Melbourne for a third time but first since 2019.
"I was just trying to fight," said the 30-year-old Svitolina. "The only thing I can do when things are not going your way, you just try to really put your head down and get back to work."
Svitolina next plays 19th seed Madison Keys, who beat Rybakina 6-3,1-6, 6-3 in a nerve-jangling clash on Margaret Court Arena.
Former US Open finalist Keys is on a surge and riding a nine-match winning streak after lifting the title in Adelaide.
But it was a bitter disappointment for sixth seed Rybakina, who was a finalist at the Australian Open in 2023.
"Obviously a pretty good first set, and I think I finished the third set really well," Keys said. "There are some things that I can take and learn from the middle of the match, but, overall, really happy with how I was able to finish and close out that match."
Five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek blasted past Eva Lys 6-0, 6-1 in the night session on Rod Laver Arena.
She ruthlessly ended Lys' bid to become the first 'lucky loser' - after earning late qualification when 13th seed Anna Kalinskaya withdrew - to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament.
"There's a lot to improve. I don't feel like I'm at my peak yet," said Swiatek, who is striving to win an elusive Australian Open title. "For sure, matches like that give me confidence and I feel like I'm playing a good game."
Swiatek is within sight of reaching the semifinals in Melbourne for a second time but will first need to play eighth seed Emma Navarro, who fended off No.9 Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.
Meanwhile, China's Zhang Zhizhen and his Czech partner Tomas Machac fell at the third round of the men's doubles after losing to 15th seeds Hugo Nys and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
But China's Zhang Shuai and France's Kristina Mladenovic upset fifth seeds Chan Hao-Ching of Chinese Taipei and Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine 7-6 (3), 6-2 to advance to the women's doubles quarterfinals.
Chinese pairing Zheng Saisai and Wang Xinyu lost to Kamilla Rakhimova and Sara Sorribes in a tense three-set women's doubles match.
Quarterfinal action starts on Tuesday headlined by a men's blockbuster between third seed Carlos Alcaraz and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.
Second seed Alexander Zverev faces 12th seed Tommy Paul.
Defending women's champion Aryna Sabalenka will be strong favorite against 27th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, while third seed Coco Gauff has an intriguing quarterfinal against 11th seed Paula Badosa. ■
留言 0