World No 2 Rafael Nadal beat old nemesis Fabio Fognini in a scrappy affair to reach his 43rd Grand Slam quarter-final while Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev ensured Grand Slam history will be made for Russia after setting up an Australian Open quarter-final on Monday.
With qualifier Aslan Karatsev already through to face Grigor Dimitrov in the top half of the draw, it means there will be three Russian men in the last eight of a Slam for the first time since the Open era began in 1968.
Nadal, bidding for a first title at Melbourne Park since 2009, has yet to drop a set and kept the record intact against the fiery Italian, winning 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena.
Later, ninth seed Matteo Berrettini pulled out of his fourth-round clash with Stefanos Tsitsipasbecause of an abdominal strain, giving the Greek fifth seed a walkover into a quarter-final against Nadal. The Italian was due to play in the late night match on Rod Laver Arena, but withdrew hours before it was due to start.
Fourth seed Medvedev extended his win streak to 18 matches when he took just 89 minutes to blow away Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 and reach the quarter-finals while world No 8 Rublev followed Medvedev onto Margaret Court Arena and was back in the locker room even quicker, as Norway’s Casper Ruud retired with the scores at 6-2, 7-6 (7/3).
Rublev also reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last year in a breakthrough season that saw him win five ATP Tour titles, more than any other player. He won 41 matches, equal with world number one Novak Djokovic as the best in 2020, and started 2021 on an eight-match streak after winning all four of his singles to help Russia win the ATP Cup, alongside Medvedev.
Fourth seed Medvedev’s best Grand Slam performance to date was reaching the final at the 2019 US Open. His unbeaten run dates back to November and includes titles at the Paris 1000, the ATP Finals in London and the ATP Cup.
But Medvedev said the Russian pair, both in their first Australian Open quarter-finals, would push their friendship aside on Wednesday when they aim for the last four.
“It’s our job – of course during the match we’re going to try to win, fight for our best,” said Medvedev. “You never know. Sometimes you can maybe... argue on the court or something because we’re competitors. “After the match we are great friends.”
“At least one of us will be in the semi-finals. So it’s good news but yeah, it’s going to be a tough match,” said Rublev. “Last time he beat me in the quarters in the US Open. So now we’re in the quarters in the Australian Open, so we’ll see what’s going to happen.”
The last Russian man to win a Grand Slam was Marat Safin at Melbourne Park in 2005.
For Nadal, it is the 13th time he has made the last eight in Australia, moving to joint third on the all-time list behind only Roger Federer (15) and John Newcombe (14).
The result keeps him on track to meet top seed Novak Djokovic in the final, with the Serb, who is carrying an abdominal injury, into his 12th quarter-final after seeing off the threat of Milos Raonic on Sunday evening.
“When you play round of 16 against a great player like Fabio they are always fighting. You can’t expect to go on court and not have some problems facing these types of players.”
Next up is either fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or ninth seed Matteo Berrettini, who play later Monday, with the Spaniard enjoying a stellar record against both.
Nadal owned a 12-4 advantage over flamboyant Fognini dating back to 2013 coming into the clash and, despite some lower back tightness, he looked sharp. But it wasn’t vintage tennis from the 34-year-old.
He didn’t serve at his best but returned well, creating 19 break points chances, although he only put away six of them, with just 24 winners to the Italian’s 32. Nadal quickly raced to a 3-0 lead in the first set after hitting several stunning winners.
But the 33-year-old Italian is a fighter and gathered himself, breaking back before Nadal immediately broke again. The Italian saved three sets points, but his resistence finally crumbled after 46 minutes.
The pair won their serves through the opening games of the second set until Fognini surprisingly made a move, breaking for 4-2 when Nadal fluffed a forehand from the baseline. Both players were struggling on serve with Nadal earning five break points in the next game, finally converting and then saving three on his own service game.
But as Fognini’s error-count began creeping up, Nadal broke once more and made no mistake to wrap up the set. He accelerated in the third set as Fognini faded, lacking the fight shown in the first two sets as Nadal put his foot down and sprinted to the finish line.
With AFP Inputs
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