After another emotional Melbourne appearance, US Open champion Daniil Medvedev in Melbourne at the Australian Open is only separated by three wins from the second Grand Slam triumph. The Russian won the tennis match including a break in treatment against the uncomfortable and in-form American Maxime Cressy 6: 2, 7: 6 (4), 6: 7 (4), 7: 5 and also clashed with the referee .
Medvedev complained that opponents were taking too much time before serving and cursed serve-and-volley specialist Cressy’s supposed frame hits. “I was pretty upset about a few things,” the 25-year-old said afterwards, questioning why he wasn’t allowed to play on Center Court at Rod Laver Arena. In the absence of Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic, last year’s finalist from Moscow is the highest-ranked player in the first Grand Slam tournament of the season.
Medvedev now meets Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in the fight for a place in the semi-finals. He prevailed against the former Australian Open finalist Marin Cilic from Croatia 2: 6, 7: 6 (7), 6: 2, 7: 6 (4).
Two-time Melbourne semi-finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas (4: 6, 6: 4, 4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4 against Taylor Fritz) and Italy’s young star Jannik Sinner (7: 6 (3), 6: 3, 6: 4 via Alex de Minaur) are also in the men’s quarterfinals.
In the women’s field, however, two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep and number two seeded Aryna Sabalenka were eliminated. In temperatures of more than 30 degrees, the Romanian finalist from 2018 lost 4: 6, 6: 3, 4: 6 against unseeded French Alize Cornet. In her first quarter-finals at a Grand Slam tournament, Cornet will meet Danielle Collins, who won 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 against Belgian Elise Mertens. Collins is the third American to finish in the top eight this year after Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys.
Navratilova criticizes tournament
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has criticized the tournament organizers for their behavior during protests in the case of China’s Peng Shuai. “That’s pretty pathetic,” said the former world number one from the United States. The WTA is pretty much alone. The organizers previously banned spectators from wearing t-shirts in support of Peng Shuai. A few weeks ago, the Chinese published allegations of sexual assault by a top Chinese politician. The post was quickly deleted. Since then, athletes, politicians and human rights activists have expressed concern for their well-being.
Source: Nachrichten
