Carlos Alcaraz powered into the Australian Open quarter-finals on Sunday and Novak Djokovic joined him without hitting a ball, as the next generation roared.
Aryna Sabalenka surged through but Coco Gauff was forced to fight at Melbourne Park, where temperatures eased to 22C after the brutal heat of a day earlier.
Top seed Alcaraz was in ominous touch at Rod Laver Arena, dismissing the American Tommy Paul 7-6 (8/6), 6-4, 7-5 in a masterclass. The 22-year-old plays home hope and sixth seed Alex de Minaur, who defeated 10th seed Alexander Bublik in straight sets. Djokovic, chasing a record 25th Grand Slam crown, was scheduled to face Jakub Mensik in the last 16 on Monday but the Czech player pulled out injured.
Djokovic will face American ninth seed Taylor Fritz or fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy for a place in the semi-finals. Alcaraz, who like Djokovic is yet to drop a set at this year’s tournament, has never gone beyond the quarter-finals in Melbourne. If he can finally break his Australian duck he will become the youngest man in history to win a career Grand Slam of all four majors.
The Spaniard has in the past struggled with precision and a lack of consistency in his serving technique.
He is now sporting a new-look serve that has become a handy weapon — and been compared to Djokovic’s serve. “I had a Djokovic message saying, ‘you have to pay me’,” he said in his on-court interview after making light work of 19th seed Paul, to laughter from an adoring crowd. Alexander Zverev, well beaten by Jannik Sinner in last year’s final, plays Learner Tien of the United States next. Germany’s third seed demolished Argentina’s 18th seed Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets. The 25th seed Tien ran out a surprisingly easy three-set winner over three-time finalist Daniil Medvedev. Tien, 20, eased into his first Grand Slam quarter-final despite a nosebleed in the first set that required lengthy treatment.
He later said his nose was just dry.
“Every year since I’ve been coming here, the crowd support has been amazing,” said Tien, the youngest men’s quarter-finalist at Melbourne Park since Nick Kyrgios in 2015. “A crowd like this with this much energy and support, it means the world to me to do it here.”
World number one Sabalenka will face impressive 18-year-old American Iva Jovic in a tasty last-eight encounter.
Belarusian top seed Sabalenka, a two-time Melbourne champion, opened the day on Rod Laver Arena and saw off the brave challenge of 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko.
Sabalenka won 6-1, 7-6 (7/1) while Jovic destroyed unseeded Yulia Putintseva 6-0, 6-1 in just 53 dominant minutes. “What an incredible player for such a young age,” said Sabalenka of the 17th-seeded Canadian Mboko, who has emerged as a serious threat in the past year.
“She pushed me really hard today and played incredible tennis.” Sabalenka raced through the second-set tiebreak — the 20th Grand Slam tiebreak in a row she has won — to seal victory. She has yet to drop a set as her title charge gathers pace. But in Jovic, who only turned 18 last month, she clashes with a player in red-hot form and rising fast, now ranked 27 having been 191 this time last year.
Jovic, who stunned two-time Grand Slam finalist and seventh seed Jasmine Paolini in the third round, said she did not consider herself an underdog. “It’s just another week that I’m winning more matches,” she added. Jovic is the youngest player to reach the women’s quarter-finals at the Australian Open without dropping a set since Venus Williams in 1998. Third-seeded American Gauff faces Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina. The 12th-seeded Svitolina saw off another 18-year-old, Russian Mirra Andreeva, 6-2, 6-4.
Gauff dropped a set for the second match in a row before clawing her way past Karolina Muchova 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. The 21-year-old Gauff, a two-time major champion, has never gone beyond the last four at Melbourne Park.