Sinner Qualifies For Australian Open Quarter Final As Keys Crashes Out

Defending champion Jannik Sinner booked his place in the Australian Open quarterfinals with a 6-1 6-3 7-6 (7-2) win over Luciano Darderi on Monday.

It was his 18th successive victory at Melbourne Park after a dominant performance against his fellow Italian.

It took him just 27 minutes to wrap up the first set, having stormed ahead 5-0 before Darderi got on the board.

Darderi had four chances late in the third to strike a crucial blow to Sinner’s hopes of an early finish.

Sinner was dominant in short rallies but suffered a dip in the third set before completing victory in a tie-break.

The world number two held on to qualify for his ninth consecutive Grand Slam quarter-finals in style.

Sinner admitted that the contest was difficult while revealing that he has improved on his serve.

He said: “It was very, very difficult,” admitted Sinner, who has never lost to a fellow Italian at tour level, extending his winning record to 18-0.

“We were good friends off court. It’s a small difficulty to also put away. I felt like in the third set I had a couple of break chances but couldn’t use them, then I got very very tight. I’m very happy I closed it in three sets.

“We changed the motion a little bit. I feel a bit more confident but I feel like there’s still room to improve.

“Now it’s a bit more stable but it’s not only that area where we have to improve. I will try to go a bit more to the net and being slightly more unpredictable, which I felt like worked really well.”

Sinner will face American eighth seed Ben Shelton or Norway’s 12th seed Casper Ruud in the last eight.

He is bidding to become just the second man after Novak Djokovic to win three successive Australian Open titles.

Earlier on Monday, Lorenzo Musetti produced a dominant display to beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets and set up a quarter-final against Novak Djokovic.

Meanwhile, In the women’s category, Jessica Pegula dumped out the defending champion, Madison Keys with a 6-3 6-4 to qualify for the quarter finals.

Pegula who breezed to a 3-0 lead and then swapped breaks with Keys, before taking the opening frame in only 31 minutes.

Keys ‍came out swinging in the second set but was broken in the opening game, and while Pegula surrendered her own serve at 4-1 she was able to withstand the mounting pressure to seal the win.

Keys made 28 unforced errors with six double faults in the contest.

Pegula will take on Amanda Anisimova in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.

Keys was proud of her performance despite the disappointment of crashing out of the tournament.

She said: “It’s obviously not the way that I wanted things to end here, but I’m still really proud of myself.

“I think coming back, being the defending champion, dealing with all of the extra pressure and nerves, I’m just really proud of myself for how I handled it.

“Just one of those days where I feel like Jess beat me, and I can kind of walk away with my head held high.”

Fifth seed Elena Rybakina qualified for her first Grand Slam quarter-final since Wimbledon 2024 after thumping Elise Mertens 6-1 6-3.

She will now face second seed Iga Swiatek in the last eight.