The Australian Open men’s quarter-finals on Tuesday will be Novak Djokovic versus Carlos Alcaraz, and No. 2 Alexander Zverev versus No. 12 Tommy Paul.
Djokovic, who has won 10 of his 24 Grand Slam titles at Melbourne Park, defeated No. 24 Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on Sunday, while Alcaraz advanced when No. 15 Jack Draper quit because of a hip problem after two sets.
Zverev, a two-time major runner-up, defeated No. 14 Ugo Humbert 6-1, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2; Paul, a semi-finalist in Australia in 2023, eliminated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-1, 6-1, 6-1.
In women’s singles, Coco Gauff’s consecutive-set streak ended at the Australian Open but her bid for a second Grand Slam title continued on Sunday with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 comeback victory over Belinda Bencic in the fourth round.
Afterward, Gauff drew a broken heart on the lens of a courtside TV camera with the message, “ RIP TikTok USA,” a reference to the ban of the popular app back home.
Until Sunday, Gauff — a 20-year-old from Florida who won the 2023 U.S. Open as a teenager — had won all 16 sets she had played this year and 24 of her past 25 dating to the end of last season, which included a title at the WTA Finals.
The tournament’s No. 3 seed was unable to control her shots well enough at the start against Bencic on a steamy early afternoon in Rod Laver Arena, where the temperature hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) and the blue playing surface was bathed in sunlight.
Gauff now faces No. 11 Paula Badosa in the quarter-finals on Tuesday. Badosa defeated Olga Danilovic 6-1, 7-6 (2) to get to the final eight in Melbourne for the first time.
The winner of Gauff versus Badosa will play either No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who is seeking a third consecutive Australian Open title, or No. 27 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 2021 French Open runner-up.
Sabalenka stretched her winning streak in Melbourne to 18 matches by defeating 14th-seeded Mirra Andreeva 6-1, 6-2, and Pavlyuchenkova beat No. 18 Donna Vekic 7-6 (0), 6-0.
Martina Hingis, from 1997 to 1999, was the last woman with three straight championships in Australia.
A year ago, Gauff reached the semi-finals at Melbourne Park for the first time, before losing to Sabalenka.
One more win for each and they will have a rematch in that round. They also met in the U.S. Open final that Gauff won two seasons ago.
