Sinner in Australian Open quarters; women’s holder Keys booted out | Tennis News

Amanda Anisimova and Jessica Pegula, the victor over Keys, set up all-American quarterfinal in Melbourne.

Jannik Sinner has secured a place in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in his campaign to defend his title, hours after women’s defending champion Madison Keys was knocked out by Jessica Pegula.

The Italian beat compatriot Luciano Darderi in three sets on Monday to book a place in the last eight.

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Keys, who won her first Grand Slam at Melbourne Park last year, had no such luck against her compatriot, close friend and podcast partner Pegula, who won 6-3, 6-4.

Pegula finds herself in another all-American match, this time against the powerful Amanda Anisimova, who dispatched China’s Wang Xinyu 7-6 (4), 6-4 on a hot afternoon.

Their fourth-round wins on Day 9 meant four Americans have reached the women’s singles quarterfinals in Australia for the first time since 2001 when Serena and Venus Williams, Jennifer Capriati, Monica Seles and Lindsay Davenport made it to the last eight.

Pegula and Anisimova advanced a day after world number three Coco Gauff and 18-year-old Iva Jovic earned their places on the other side of the draw.

Meanwhile, six-time major champion Iga Swiatek ended the fairytale run of qualifier Maddison Inglis to set up a quarterfinal with fifth-seeded Elena Rybakina.

The Polish second seed, who is chasing a maiden Melbourne title, was in a different class than the Australian, who suffered a 6-0, 6-3 demolition job on Rod Laver Arena.

It brought to a close the “life-changing” run of Inglis, who was thrust into the prime-time contest when Naomi Osaka withdrew from their third-round match with an injury.

But, as expected, her tournament went no further as Swiatek was on a mission.

“I felt pretty confident from the beginning,” said Swiatek, who has won four French Opens, the US Open and Wimbledon but is yet to lift the trophy in Melbourne.

Last year, she surged into the last four but failed to get past Keys.

In the men’s draw, Sinner raced to a 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) victory and will face eighth-seeded Ben Shelton or 12th-seeded Casper Ruud for a place in the semifinals.

The world number two is bidding to win the Melbourne crown for a third time in a row, something only Novak Djokovic has done in the Open era (since 1968).

Djokovic and Sinner are on course for a blockbuster last-four showdown.

“It was very difficult. We are good friends off the court,” Sinner said of the hard-hitting Darderi, who put up some late resistance.

Sinner sent down a bumper 19 aces in the match and said his hard work had paid off.

“For sure I feel more confident [on serve]. Still room to improve but happy how I have come back in the new season.”

Lorenzo Musetti reached the quarterfinals for the first time in Australia with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 win over ninth-ranked Taylor Fritz.

The fifth-seeded Musetti has had a disrupted run with one of his coaches and a physiotherapist having to return to Italy for personal reasons. He also had to leave his family behind after the birth in November of his second son.

His next mission is against a rested Djokovic. The 24-time major winner had been scheduled to be the feature night match at Rod Laver Arena on Monday but had a walkover into the quarterfinals after his opponent Jakub Mensik withdrew from their scheduled fourth-round match with an abdominal injury.