Red-hot Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev moved closer to a quarter-final showdown with contrasting wins at the Australian Open on Saturday while top-10 seeds Stefanos Tsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini set up a fourth-round clash.
Later, Rafael Nadal accelerated his pursuit of a record 21st Grand Slam title Saturday with a testing victory over Cameron Norrie in a battle of the left-handers.
The Spanish second seed has altered his service motion due to lower-back tightness, but it didn’t stop him emphatically demolishing his first two opponents in straight sets. Britain’s 69th-ranked Norrie proved a tougher assignment, with Nadal pressed much harder before emerging a 7-5, 6-2, 7-5 winner. He will play Fabio Fognini next, who beat Alex De Minaur 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
Daniil Medvedev overcame buttock pain and a walk-out by his coach as he withstood a five-set test from Filip Krajinovic. The fourth seed blew a two-set lead and needed treatment to his left glute before finally moving past the Serb 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-0 and into the fourth round, extending his win streak to 17.
An agitated Medvedev repeatedly yelled at his box in an empty Rod Laver Arena as he struggled in the fourth set, with coach Gilles Cervara eventually walking out and not returning. Cervara’s departure seemed to do the trick, with Medvedev racing through the fifth set without losing a game in just 25 minutes to seal the win.
This time, yeah, for sure it was a good thing to do,” he said of the walk-out, adding that he would sit down with Cervara and discuss the incident. “But there is not a big deal, let’s call it like this.”
He will play Mackenzie McDonald for a berth in the quarter-finals after the unseeded American cruised past South African Lloyd Harris in straight sets.
Medvedev has now gone 17 matches unbeaten, dating back to November and including title wins at the Paris 1000, the ATP Finals in London and the ATP Cup.
He dominated Krajinovic with accurate serves and groundstrokes to take the opening set, then broke him in the sixth game of the second. But the Serb, a training partner of world number one Novak Djokovic while in Adelaide quarantine, then made Medvedev sweat.
He forced him to save two break points while serving for the second set then, broke for a 3-1 lead in the third. The Russian broke back but Krajinovic pounced to break again for the set when Medvedev sent a backhand wide.
Medvedev’s movement appeared impaired in the fourth set and he took a medical time out when 5-2 down. Krajinovic closed out the set, but a revitalised Medvedev broke the Serb three times as he rattled through the fifth set without dropping a game.
Rublev, the seventh seed continued his red hot form and crushed veteran Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 32 minutes to reach the fourth round.
The 23-year-old was in a dogfight early against Lopez with the canny veteran rattling his rhythm by repeatedly charging to the net. The composed Russian remained unruffled and found his groove to hit the lines and thwart Lopez’s tactics.
Rublev submitted a masterclass in the second and third sets to down a weary Lopez, who won a five-set thriller over Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego on Thursday. The 39-year-old was playing in his record-extending 75th Grand Slam in a row.
The Russian plays 24th seed Casper Ruud next and remains on a collision course to meet fourth seed Medvedev with the young guns aiming to break their country’s 16-year drought in Slams. The last Russian man to win a Grand Slam was Marat Safin at Melbourne Park in 2005.
Fifth seed Tsitsipas put friendship aside to crush Mikael Ymer the Swede 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 on John Cain Arena.
He will now play either big-hitting ninth seed Matteo Berrettini who beat 19th-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov -6(1), 7-6(5), 7-6(5) despite a long medical timeout.
Ymer, ranked 95, stunned last month’s Delray Beach titlist Hubert Hurkacz in the opening round then overcame 17-year-old Spanish wunderkind Carlos Alcaraz, but he was no match for the Greek.
Tsitsipas, a semi-finalist at Melbourne Park in 2019, was coming off a gruelling five-set win over Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, but showed few signs of tiredness.
He took his chances when presented in the opening set then romped through the second, powering down big serves and hitting 10 winners. The third set followed a similar pattern with Ymer unable to deal with the Greek star’s unrelenting accuracy on service return, hitting too many unforced errors and unable to get into the rallies.
Casper Ruud became only the second Norwegian to make the last 16 of a Grand Slam Saturday, emulating his father Christian who made the grade at the Australian Open in 1997.
The 22-year-old outlasted Radu Albot 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to book a fourth-round Melbourne Park clash with Russian Andrey Rublev and said he was proud to match his dad’s achievement.
Results
Third round
Andrey Rublev (RUS x7) bt Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 7-5, 6-2, 6-3
Casper Ruud (NOR x24) bt Radu Albot (MDA) 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
Mackenzie McDonald (USA) bt Lloyd Harris (RSA) 7-6 (9/7), 6-1, 6-4
Daniil Medvedev (RUS x4) bt Filip Krajinovic (SRB x28) 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-0
Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE x5) bt Mikael Ymer (SWE) 6-4, 6-1, 6-1
Matteo Berrettini (ITA x9) bt Karen Khachanov (RUS x19) 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5)
Fabio Fognini (ITA x16) bt Alex De Minaur (AUS x21) 6-4, 6-3, 6-4
Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) bt Cameron Norrie (GBR) 7-5, 6-2, 7-5
With AFP Inputs
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