We now know who will be in the final eight of the men’s draw and the women’s draw of the 2021 Australian Open in Melbourne. Let us take a look back at the top five headlines of the weekend that was in tennis.
5) No fans at the moment. Due to the fact that the Australian state of Victoria is trying to curb coronavirus, there are no spectators currently. Over the past week, there were 13 reported cases of coronavirus at a hotel near the Melbourne airport. The hope is that fans will be able to return for the semifinals and finals starting at the end of the week. When there were fans at the end of last week, the crowd really got into the third round match between Dominic Thiem of Austria, and Australian star Nick Kyrgios. Thiem lost the first two sets, before winning the last three.
4) Three unseeded players left. There are three players still left in the two singles draws. On the women’s side, Su-wei Hseh of Taiwan, and Jessica Pegula are in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile on the men’s side, Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev is still left. In the fourth round, Karatsev came back to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in five sets after being two sets down, to become the first man to reach a grand slam quarterfinal in his grand slam debut since Alex Radulescu of Romania made the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1996, according to tennis.com.
3) How is Novak Djokovic? After his third-round win over American Taylor Fritz, Djokovic thought he tore his oblique muscle. However, the world number one and defending champion still played his fourth-round match and beat Canadian Milos Raonic in four sets. Djokovic’s health will be a big question heading into his quarterfinal match Tuesday night against Alexander Zverev of Germany.
2) Could we see another American champion this month with the last name of Brady? As we approach the women’s quarterfinals, one could argue the most impressive player so far has been American Jennifer Brady, the 22nd-ranked player in the world. In her first four matches, Brady has not dropped a set in wins over Aliona Bolsova of Spain, Madison Brengle of the United States, Kaja Juvan of Slovenia, and Donna Vekic of Croatia. Clearly, Tom Brady, the Super Bowl MVP, is not the only Brady who has made noise in the month of February.
1)Serena Williams is looking strong. The seven-time Australian Open champion was given a significant test in her fourth-round match, before beating the seventh-seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in three sets. Sabalenka is one of the game’s rising stars, and was red-hot heading into Melbourne. Williams came through with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win, in what Chris Evert has stated was “the best match” of the 2021 Australian Open so far. Now, Williams has rival Simona Halep of Romania, the second seed, in the quarterfinals. Head-to-head, Williams has the 9-2 advantage.
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