Tsitsipas and Kanepi reach Australian Open quarterfinals

It was an evening of electric exchanges at Melbourne Park – strokes and stories – that made for compelling viewing.

While Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas survived challenges to say their piece, world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka saw yet another Grand Slam dream fade into the night.

Medvedev pronounced it the ‘unluckiest day of my life’. Unhappy with the scheduling which had put him out on the Margaret Court Arena, he raged at his opponent American Maxime Cressy’s luck, he then took on chair umpire Renaud Lichtenstein, who had shot down the Russian’s request to change his sweat soaked gear in the second set.

The world No. 2, however, was near flawless on the court, he had just 11 unforced errors in his 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (4-7), 7-5 win. Medvedev wasn’t broken in the 3-hour 30-minute encounter in which Cressy cut a throwback frame with his net rushing style of play.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, the fourth-seed, faced every kind of music on Rod Laver Arena, including some power play by the big-serving American Taylor Fritz, but the Greek was backed by the roar of the house. Barely had the match started when he got pulled up for time violation and immediately after was docked a first serve. He got a few warnings too for coaching as his father Apostolos, who was masked, screamed instructions at his son.

Tsitsipas, however, stepped up to deliver, rallying to score a 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win in the fourth round. The Greek, who zipped 53 winners, has reached the semifinals twice in Melbourne in 2019 and 2021. To match that effort he will need to get past Italian Jannik Sinner in their last-eight meeting.

SABALENKA OUSTED

Sabalenka has struggled with her serve during the championships, resulting in double faults, often twice and thrice in a single game. Against the world No. 115 Kaia Kanepi in the fourth-round the Belarusian powerhouse had 15 double faults, it took the wheels off her Australian Open campaign.

Kanepi, 36, rallied from a set down to score a 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (10) win to make the last-eight at Melbourne Park for the first time.

The 23-year-old Sabalenka has taken her time coming into matches, having lost the first set in her previous three outings, but on Monday she took the early advantage, but failed to ride it out as her serve came undone.

Successive double-faults in the second set saw the seasoned Estonian go up a double break, helping her level set scores. She carried that momentum into the decider, but Sabalenka saved four breakpoints in the seventh game to hold for 3-4. A combination of factors, including a break in play for low-flying seagulls that lent to the atmosphere, saw her stutter again.

More double-faults put Kanepi in position to serve out the match, but she failed to close out when serving at 40-0, through in the tie-break, closing on her fifth match point. “I was really tight. My hand was shaking when I started serving. I didn’t make any first serves and that added to the pressure,” Kanepi said of her first three match-points. “I almost didn’t make it. She had that match point too. I guess I was just lucky at the end.”