Australian Open

Grigor Dimitrov beat third-seeded Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals for the fourth time.

Dimitrov, seeded No. 18, lost a break in each of the first two sets, but rallied to keep the pressure on his weary opponent.

Thiem won the US Open and was runner-up at the Australian Open last year, but was coming off a tough third-round match when he had to come back two sets to beat hometown favorite Nick Kyrgios in five.

Dimitrov, who is ranked highest in his career at No. 3, will next play 114-ranked Aslan Karatsev, who surprised Felix Auger-Aliassime to become the first man since 1996 to reach the quarter-finals in his Grand Slam debut.

The 27-year-old Russian qualifier lost the first two sets, but raised his bar and lowered his error rate to beat 20th seed Auger-Aliassime by five.

Serena Williams goes down but not out

Serena Williams fell to the ground, her heavily bandaged right ankle twisted, her body contorted, her racket flying.

This was at the start of the second set of a competitive showdown in the Australian Open fourth round against a younger version of herself (stabbing serves, huge groundstrokes, a fierce streak) and during a stretch on Sunday (Saturday EST night) when things seemed to fade.

Williams quickly raised a hand to signal that he was okay, re-tying the laces on his right shoe, and while it took a while for him to regain control, he did, just in time. Holding the final two games, Williams pulled off a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 victory over No. 7 seed Aryna Sabalenka to reach the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park.

Two years ago at this tournament, Williams was on the brink of a quarterfinal victory when he injured his ankle and ended up losing.

“Well, my first thought was, ‘Not another ankle sprain in Australia.’ But I knew right away that it wasn’t. Then I felt more ashamed than anything. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. I don’t like falling, ”Williams said. But it was okay. I mean, once I realized that I didn’t twist my ankle, I thought, ‘Okay, I’m okay, let me get up.’

Williams, who wore a black T-shirt with the “Unstoppable Queen” in gold capital letters at her press conference, came close to a record-tying eighth Australian Open championship and 24th Grand Slam singles title.

Her most recent came in 2017, while she was pregnant.

On a cloudy day with the temperature in the mid-60s Fahrenheit (high teens Celsius), both Williams and Sabalenka ruled out a lot in terms of subtlety or nuance.

“It was really cool,” Williams said. “If you want to play power, let’s go.”

These two hit the ball hard, over and over at Rod Laver Arena, and Williams barely improved. He finished with more winners, 30-24, and more aces, 9-4, as he accelerated his best serve of the game to a speed of 202 kph (126 mph).

When Williams needed to volley, he did quite well, claiming 13 of 15 points when he went to the net. More importantly, he covered the court in the same way he did in his youth, when the seeming winners of the opponents became mere fodder for his own punches.

And she showed no signs of left Achilles tendon problems that hampered her in a loss in the US Open semifinal in September and forced her to withdraw from the French Open before the second round later that month.

“I have worked very hard on my movement. Yes, I like to retrieve balls. I mean, obviously I like being on offense, but I can also play very well defense, ”said the 39-year-old American. “I did not think of my Achilles. It’s so good not to think about it. Oh my God.”

Sabalenka, a 22-year-old from Belarus playing only her second fourth-round Slam match, was visibly and audibly frustrated. He would frequently yell after losing points. She also dug her racket.

With the great quality of the match, the only shame was that there were no fans to see it in person. This is because this was Day 2 of the five-day lockdown imposed by the Victoria state government after some cases of COVID-19 emerged at a local hotel. (All the cheers or talk from viewers heard at home were broadcast to broadcast channels.)

Next, Williams is assured of facing another Grand Slam champion: Simona Halep or Iga Swiatek, who were scheduled to face Sunday night.

The other quarterfinal in that half of the draw will be Naomi Osaka against Hsie Su-wei of Taiwan, 35 years old.

The first man to win on Sunday was completely unexpected: Aslan Karatsev, a 27-year-old Russian qualifier who ranks 114th, is the first player in a quarter-century to reach the quarter-finals in his Grand Slam debut. Karatsev eliminated 20th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 3-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.

Osaka barely advanced, saving two match points and grabbing the final four games to beat Garbiñe Muguruza 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Third-seeded Osaka returns to the quarterfinals of a tournament he won in 2019 for one of his three major trophies. Osaka led his winning streak to 18 games, a run that included a US Open title in September.

“He is playing very well. Great shots, great serve, ”Muguruza said. “That gives you a lot of free points.”

The key moment came when Osaka served 15-40 while trailing 5-3 in the final set. Muguruza couldn’t turn any of the chances to end things: Osaka delivered one of his 11 aces at 118 mph in the first; Muguruza missed a groundstroke in the second.

Fifteen minutes later, the game was over.

Ranking No. 71 Hsieh’s 6-4, 6-2 win over 2019 French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova made her the oldest woman to make her major quarter-final debut in the he was professional.

This is the 38th major for Hsieh, who defeated 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in the second round.

Hsieh’s secret to success?

“I try to pretend,” he joked, “I’m only 18 years old.”

.