Elina Svitolina rallies to reach Australian Open quarterfinals for the third time

Elina Svitolina was 4-1 down before she went on a roll and took 11 of the next 12 games in a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Veronika Kudermetova on Monday (January 20, 2025) to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals for the third time.

The 30-year-old Ukrainian is into the last eight at a Grand Slam for the 12th time and will next play No. 19 Madison Keys, who had a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 win over Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion and 2023 Australian Open runner-up.

Keys has twice reached the semifinals in Australia, in 2015 and 2022, and entered the season’s first major with a title in Adelaide earlier this month.

Svitolina is back in the quarterfinals in Australia for the first time since 2019.

“Feels like a lifetime ago,” Svitolina said. Since then, she has married French player Gael Monfils in 2021 and the pair had a daughter, Skai, in 2022. “Many things happened and I’m really pleased with the performance throughout the tournament. Really enjoying this win today.”

After dropping two early service games to Kudermetova, she said her only goal “was just trying to fight.”

“It’s the only thing I can do when things are not going your way, put your head down and get back to work,” she said. “Really happy I could come (back) into the match and then win in straight sets.”

In a message written on a TV camera lens after the match, the No. 28-seeded Svitolina wrote “The Spirit of Ukraine” and drew a heart shape.

Svitolina, the No. 28 seed, wore a red dress, red shoes and a red cap for the match. People in the crowd waved the yellow and blue Ukraine flag.

Kudermetova took a medical timeout for on-court treatment on her abdomen after falling behind 5-4 the first set.

She left the court for treatment after losing the first set. Kudermetova saved a breakpoint and held for 1-1 in the second set, following up a forehand winner down the line with a loud roar.

That was the end of her celebrating.

It wasn’t just power and pace from Svitolina that was the difference between the pair. After bringing Kudermetova to the net with a drop shot and then lobbing over her to start the next game, Svitolina punched the air.

There was no handshake at the net with Kudermeotva, a 27-year-old from Russia, but no animosity, either.

Jannik Sinner gets past Holger Rune at Australian Open in a match with net and medical delays

First came the medical timeouts, one each for Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune with the temperature above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) at the Australian Open. Then came the unusual sight of a 20-minute delay because the net at Rod Laver Arena detached from the court after being hit by a big Sinner serve.

In the end, Sinner put his physical struggles aside and emerged with the victory — as he keeps doing, no matter the site or the circumstances — and the defending champion moved into the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park on Monday by eliminating the 13th-seeded Rune 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2.

The No. 1-ranked Sinner occasionally tried to cool off by pressing a cold towel to his face or pouring water down the back of his neck. He was far better down the stretch, both after a 10-minute-plus delay in the third set when he went to the locker room for medical attention and after a 20-minute holdup in the fourth when the screw connecting the net to the blue playing surface came undone.

“I knew in my mind … I would struggle today,” Sinner said during his on-court interview, without saying what was wrong.

Rune, a 21-year-old from Denmark, was trying to get to the quarterfinals in Melbourne for the first time.

The first signs of trouble for Sinner came with Rune serving at 3-all in the second set.

After lunging for a shot behind the baseline and stumbling slightly, Sinner clutched at his upper left leg and looked as though he might be bothered by some sort of discomfort, although it wasn’t entirely clear what was going on.

After Rune held there, Sinner walked slowly to the sideline for the ensuing changeover and was breathing heavily during the time between games. When play resumed, Rune earned his first break point of the match, and Sinner handed it over with a double-fault that made his deficit 5-3.

Rune closed out that set, and Sinner momentarily sat on his bench before walking slowly off the court and toward the locker room.

It was a muggy afternoon, and long, physical points left both players spent. After a pivotal, 37-stroke exchange in the third — claimed by Sinner with a cross-court swinging forehand volley passing winner after bringing Rune forward with a drop shot — each man leaned over with hands on his knees, gasping for air. One of Sinner’s coaches, Darren Cahill, stood in his courtside box and raised his left fist.

Then, during the changeover at 3-2 in the third set, Sinner asked the chair umpire to call for a trainer, and told a ball kid to bring him a bottle of something to drink from his team. Sinner’s pulse was checked, and then he trudged off with a towel draped around his beck and a bottle in each hand, accompanied by a doctor.

When action resumed, Rune was the one playing a bit recklessly and without an effective game plan, and he got broken to trail 5-3 — then immediately requested his own medical check, during which his right knee was massaged by a trainer. That might actually have helped Sinner.

“It was, for sure, very, very tough,” Sinner said.

“I knew in my mind that he had some very long matches before this one, so I tried to stay there mentally.”

Keys stuns Rybakina to reach Australian Open quarter-finals

American Madison Keys upset sixth seed Elena Rybakina 6-3 1-6 6-3 in a roller-coaster match at Margaret Court Arena to march into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Monday and extend her win streak to nine matches this year.

Adelaide Open champion Keys had lost to the Kazakh in their last two encounters but was well in control for most of the last 16 tie, barring a rough patch in the second set when she lost four straight games.

Rybakina seemed to be struggling with a lower back injury that had affected her in the third round and Keys was able to play aggressively to neutralise her big serve and take control of the rallies.

Madison Keys of the U.S. celebrates after defeating Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
AP

“Her serve is such a weapon, so I knew that if I could just try to make at least some of her service games a little bit competitive, then I had a chance,” said the 19th seed, who chalked up her third win over a top-10 player this month.

“So I was basically just trying to make anything that I could get my racket on back over the net, which worked sometimes.”

The decider was neck-and-neck early on at 3-3 before Keys moved up a gear and sealed her spot in the next round with a searing cross-court winner on her second match point.

Swiatek crushes lucky loser Lys to reach Australian Open quarters

A ruthless Iga Swiatek slammed the door shut on German lucky loser Eva Lys with a 6-0 6-1 win on Monday to breeze into the quarter-finals of the year’s opening Grand Slam for the second time.

Five-times Grand Slam champion Swiatek came into the match having lost only 10 games in the tournament and the Pole sent out another warning to her title rivals by dismantling Lys in 59 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

Iga Swiatek of Poland reacts after defeating Eva Lys of Germany in their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
AP

“Great, that was my first night session and I’m glad I have the chance to play on Rod Laver Arena,” Swiatek said.

“I enjoyed it, which is the most important thing … I’m still 23, so there’s a lot to improve. I don’t feel I’m at my peak. But these matches give me a lot of confidence.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, maybe I’ll be better. I’m so glad I was able to play my game … I’m feeling really comfortable and we’re going well.”