No. 19 seed Madison Keys scored the big upset on Day 9 of the Australian Open, defeating No. 6 Elena Rybakina 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 at Margaret Court Arena to advance to the tournament quarterfinals.
Rybakina fought a back injury throughout the match and was still able to rally and win the second set. Yet she had no answer for Keys consistently returning her serve.
Following her third-round win over Dayana Yastremska, Rybakina admitted to reporters that her back was a significant obstacle, saying “it doesn’t seem too good” and needed “magic” to advance in the tournament.
Keys has won nine consecutive matches and bested Rybakina after losing her past two matchups against her.
“I really had just had to focus on getting as many returns in play today. Her serve is such a weapon,” Keys said in her post-match interview. “I knew that if I could just try to make at least some of her service games competitive, I had a chance.”
Keys will face Elina Svitolina in Wednesday’s quarterfinal match. Svitolina advanced by defeating Veronika Kudermetova in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1.
No. 1 men’s seed and defending Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner overcame an illness that caused several medical delays throughout his fourth-round match. Play was also delayed by a broken net in the fourth set.
Sinner ultimately prevailed over No. 13 Holger Rune, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, but he visibly struggled during the match, seen shaking while sitting between sets.
“Today was a very strange morning. I didn’t even warm up today, trying to go on court as fit as I could,” Sinner told Jim Courier after the match. “I knew in my mind right before the match that I would struggle today.”
With the win, Sinner became the fourth player to reach the quarterfinals in 15 consecutive tour-level events, joining Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. At 23 years old, he’s the youngest men’s player to win 18 straight hard-court Grand Slam matches since John McEnroe did so in 1981.
Sinner will face native Australian Alex De Minaur in the quarterfinals. The No. 8 seed advanced past the tournament’s fourth round for the first time with a win over Alex Michelsen, 6-0, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
De Minaur is the first Australian men’s player to make the Australian Open quarters since Nick Kyrgios did so in 2015. Previously, he’s advanced to the quarterfinals at the US Open, French Open and Wimbledon.
“It means the world,” De Minaur said, post-match. “There is nothing I want to do more than play well here in Australia in front of you guys, so I am glad I finally made it to a quarter-finals here. Let’s go for bigger and better things.”
De Minaur and Sinner have faced each other nine previous times, with the Italian winning all of their matches.
Also in the fourth round of the women’s draw, No. 8 seed Emma Navarro endured three sets to beat No. 9 Daria Kasatkina, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5. The match was a back-and-forth affair with each player consistently breaking the other’s serve. Kasatkina appeared to be on the verge of tying the third set, but faltered with four consecutive errors.
Navarro has not taken an easy route to the quarterfinals, needing three sets to win all three of her matches in this year’s Australian Open. She defeated Peyton Stearns in the opening round, 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, then overcame Xiyu Wang in the second round, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. In the third round, Navarro fought through to beat Ons Jabeur, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek awaits Navarro in Wednesday’s quarterfinal match after easily dispatching Eva Lys in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1. Each of Swiatek’s matches in this year’s Australian Open have been straight-set victories.
Perhaps as a warning to Navarro, Swiatek says she has room to improve.
“I don’t feel like I’m in my peak yet but matches like that definitely give me confidence,” Swiatek said in her post-match interview. “I feel like I’m playing a good game.”
Off the court, Swiatek learned that the World Anti-Doping Agency will not appeal her one-month suspension for testing positive for banned substance trimetazidine in August. WADA’s review of the case determined that Swiatek’s positive test was the result of contamination from melatonin she was taking.
Swiatek served a one-month suspension that ended on Dec. 4.