3: Russians refuel
They were three in the round of 16, and it was already the record for Russian tennis. They will still be three in quarters, and this is frankly historic. Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, very easy on Monday, joined the surprising Aslan Karatsev, who qualified the day before at the expense of Félix Auger-Aliassime. This trio is therefore making history and the collective performance is anything but trivial since it is necessary to go back to the US Open 2016 to find traces of three compatriots among the last eight qualified.
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Open d’Australie
The Tops and the Flops of Monday: Barty carbide, Fognini does pschitt
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AN HOUR AGO
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In Flushing, that year, it was … France which had succeeded in this performance with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gaël Monfils and Lucas Pouille. The latter two clashed, as Medvedev and Rublev will face off on Wednesday, securing at least a place in the semi-finals. This collective record is all the more remarkable since there had not been a single Russian in the quarterfinals in Melbourne during the last ten editions. The last was Nikolay Davydenko in 2010. He has just found not one, but three successors.
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3 small sets in 1h29: the Medvedev express goes into quarters
8: Eighth on the diet for men
Quite improbable: four matches, eight sets. In the female table, the thing would have been common. But we’re talking about the last four rounds of the men’s tournament, which were scheduled for Monday. Theoretically, they should have generated a minimum of twelve sets.
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But with Matteo Berrettini’s forfeit, Casper Ruud’s abandonment at the end of the second round against Andrey Rublev, and the two speedy victories of Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev against Fabio Fognini and McKenzie McDonald, there is no so had only eight sets of tennis.
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We do not know if this is a record, but it should not be far from the ratio of scheduled matches / sets played. For a bit, we would be tempted to say that being in camera was not a bad thing, ticket holders would have left frustrated. We’re kidding, of course. But you get the idea.
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Before Ruud quit, Rublev impressed again to join Medvedev
17: Brady leaves nothing but crumbs for the competition
Since the start of this fortnight, Jennifer Brady has been wasting no time on the court. Not only did the American not concede a single set to her opponents in 4 matches in Melbourne, but she left them only 17 small games in all and for all.
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By winning only 6 on Monday, Donna Vekic does not even have to be ashamed: she did better than the three previous victims of the number 22 seed. This is to say if Brady walked around before tackling the quarter-finals, relying on a lethal success percentage behind his first ball (79% on average and even 85% on Monday).
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And she is not at her first attempt in Grand Slam: semifinalist a few months ago at the US Open, she had already done almost as well, giving up only 19 games to the competition. Will tournament sensation Jessica Pegula weather the tornado? One thing is certain: at least an American will be there in the last four.
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Brady – Vekic: The Summary
33: Nadal ready to catch up with Federer
And it continues for Rafael Nadal. We thought Fabio Fognini capable of testing the Mallorcan, but their round of 16 turned to the manacor player alone. Whether his back bothers him or not, Nadal continues to outperform the competition. Here he is now on a series of 33 sets won in Grand Slam. It started at the last Roland-Garros, during which the Spaniard had not conceded a single round: 21 out of 21. It therefore continued in Melbourne (12 out of 12).
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Nadal now finds himself with the two longest series in the viewfinder. If he wins his quarter-final without losing a round (and without abandoning his opponent), Nadal will overtake John McEnroe (35 straight sets won in 1984) and equal Roger Federer and his 36 straight sets won between the US Open 2006 and Roland-Garros 2007. No one has done better in the Open era. And if it is certainly not a record which trots in the head of the world number 2, he now has a real chance to equal it, or even to beat it.
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This Fognini could not do anything: Nadal rushed towards his 13th quarter in Melbourne
60%: Muchova ensures against the Top 20 in Grand Slam
Karolina Muchova is the archetype of the dangerous player. Not with maddening regularity at the highest level – she has only one title to her list (Seoul in 2019) and has just reached her best ranking at 27th place in the world – she loves to play on the biggest stages against to the best. While it has won only 20% (2/10) of its matches against the Top 20 excluding Grand Slam tournaments, its success rate rises to 60% (6/10) in the Majors and this over all surfaces.
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She thus beat Anett Kontaveit on the clay court of Roland-Garros then on the grass of Wimbledon in 2019, Karolina Pliskova also at the All England Club in eighth the same year (before doing it again during this Australian Open 2021) and Garbine Muguruza on hard at the US Open 2018. Elise Mertens, the last victim of the Czech this Monday, was therefore warned.
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After Pliskova, Muchova confirms and pays for Mertens: the summary of her victory
Open d’Australie
The Hits: “Nadal was keen to put Fognini back in place”
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AN HOUR AGO
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Open d’Australie
When Nadal announces Berrettini’s package at a press conference … by mistake
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2 HOURS AGO
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