Carlos Alcaraz cruised into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Monday with a performance he felt was “almost perfect”.
The second seed hammered Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4 6-4 6-0 in just an hour and 50 minutes to advance to the last eight at Melbourne Park for the first time.
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Alcaraz will take on Alexander Zverev next, the German coming through in a fifth-set, match tie-break against Cameron Norrie.
Zverev will have to be at his absolute best to trouble Alcaraz with the Spaniard admitting he was close to his top level against Kecmanovic.
He said on Eurosport: “I did almost everything perfectly. I hit the ball really well. I moved really well as well. I’m really proud of my performance today, the level that I played.
“From the first ball to the last, it wasn’t up and down, and that’s something that I’m working on. I’m really happy to do it and I hope to keep going like that.”
Third seed Daniil Medvedev is also into the quarter-finals after seeing off Nuno Borges 6-3 7-6 (7/4) 5-7 6-1.
The Russian squandered two match points in the third set but came through to set up a last-eight clash with Hubert Hurkacz, a straight-sets winner over French wildcard Arthur Cazaux.
After defeating Nuno Borges, Daniil Medvedev’s post-match interview turns into an insightful masterclass! 😅👏#AUSOPEN PIC.TWITTER.COM/A3UHV0PVEH
— Eurosport (@eurosport) JANUARY 22, 2024
There were two high-profile exits on the women’s side with two-time champion Victoria Azarenka and Ukrainian 19th seed Elina Svitolina both going out.
Azarenka was stunned 7-6 (8/6) 6-4 by qualifier Dayana Yastremska who advanced to her first grand slam quarter-final.
Yastremska said: “I played pretty aggressive, I think.
“In some moments I felt like I was too nervous and too emotional, but then I just relaxed and I said, like, ‘It’s going to be like it’s going to be. Just try to play each ball.’”
From qualifying to QUARTERFINALS 🙌@D_YASTREMSKA delivers her best-ever Grand Slam result!#AUSOPEN • @WWOS • @ESPN • @EUROSPORT • @WOWOWTENNIS PIC.TWITTER.COM/WCR1PLG9EA
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) JANUARY 22, 2024
Svitolina could only manage three games against Linda Noskova, who beat world number one Iga Swiatek in the previous round, before having to retire hurt.
Qinwen Zheng is the only seed remaining in the top half of the draw, the number 12 seeing off France’s Oceane Dodin 6-0 6-3 in under an hour.
Her quarter-final opponent will be world number 75 Anna Kalinskaya, who beat 26th seed Jasmine Paolini 6-4 6-2.
