Denis the menace

Denis Shapovalov progressed to the Australian Open men’s singles quarter-finals for the first time after notching up a stunning straight-set win over third seed Alexander Zverev at the Margaret Court Arena here on Sunday.

The 22-year-old Canadian knocked out Olympic gold medallist Zverev (Germany) with a 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 victory and set up a last-eight clash against Rafael Nadal. The 14th-seeded Shapovalov can be proud of what he has managed to achieve in the last few weeks.

He had to isolate after testing positive for COVID-19 on arrival in Australia, but recovered quickly to help Canada win the ATP Cup in Sydney. Shapovalov has now followed up the ATP Cup triumph with a Grand Slam quarter-final berth, the third of his career.

“I am happy with where my game is at. I played pretty smart,” said Shapovalov following his success over Zverev. “It is always an honour to go up against a guy like Rafa. It is always fun. It is always going to be a battle,” Shapovalov shared thoughts on his next opponent.

Meanwhile, sixth-seeded Nadal from Spain qualified for the final-eight at Melbourne Park for a 14th time. The 20-time major winner won a lengthy tie-breaker en route to his fourth-round win over fellow left-hander Adrian Mannarino of France. Nadal sealed a quarter-final spot with a 7-6(14), 6-2, 6-2 scoreline at the Rod Laver Arena.

“Well, I have played a couple,” said a smiling Nadal in reference to long tie-breakers. “It was a crazy one. There were chances for both [players]. I was lucky to win that tie-break at the end, no?” In other fourth-round matches, No.7 Matteo Berrettini (Italy) defeated 19th seed Pablo Carreno Busta from Spain 7-5, 7-6(4), 6-4 while No.17 Gael Monfils of France came up trumps 7-5, 7-6(4), 6-3 against Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.

In the women’s draw, World No.1 and local favourite Ashleigh Barty advanced to the quarter-finals as she secured a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Amanda Anisimova of the USA. Anisimova broke Barty’s opening service game of the second set, but the Australian responded in style by winning six of the last seven games in the match.

Barty will next meet No.21 Jessica Pegula from America, who beat Greek fifth seed Maria Sakkari 7-6(0), 6-3. The fourth-seeded Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) breezed past Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-2, 6-2, with Madison Keys from the USA posting a comfortable 6-3, 6-1 win over No.8 Paulo Badosa (Spain).