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Had to stretch: Naomi Osaka
Photo:
Quinn Rooney / Getty Images
Two match balls fended off and then moved into the quarter-finals: US Open winner Naomi Osaka barely prevented a round of 16 at the Australian Open.
The 23-year-old defeated the former world number one Garbiñe Muguruza 4: 6, 6: 4, 7: 5.
Osaka started the game against last year's finalist at a typically rapid pace and quickly pulled away 2-0.
As a result, Muguruza took more and more control of the game.
In the second set it was Osaka who made the right decisions under pressure and put Muguruza under pressure, especially on her weak forehand side.
With a score of 3: 5 in the third set, Osaka fended off two match points with two aces and then Osaka made no more avoidable mistakes.
Muguruza showed nerves - and so after an instructive 1:55 hours Osaka had three points more than the Spaniard.
"I felt like I was thinking too much the whole match," Osaka said after the game.
She had to let go of many of these thoughts.
"That made me want to bet more on instinct-based tennis."
Osaka's opponent is Su-Wei Hsieh from Taiwan - the 35-year-old is the oldest player to date to make her debut in the quarter-finals of a major tournament.
Hsieh prevailed 6: 4, 6: 2 against Marketa Vondrousova from the Czech Republic.
“If she were a character in a video game, I'd pick her just so I wouldn't have to play her,” Osaka said. “My mind just can't fathom the decisions she makes when she's on the court.
It's not fun to play, but really fun to watch. "
The 23-time Grand Slam winner
Serena Williams
also managed her next success with difficulty in three sets.
The 39-year-old made her 54th place in the last eight in a Grand Slam with a 6: 4, 2: 6, 6: 4 in 2:09 hours against Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus.
There Williams will meet the world number two Simona Halep from Romania, who defeated the French Open winner Iga Swiatek from Poland 3: 6, 6: 1, 6: 4.
"It was bloody hard," admitted the longtime number one.
Williams thus still has the chance to catch up with record winner Margaret Court (Australia / 24 titles) after Grand Slam successes.
In 2017 she achieved her last triumph to date in one of the four most important tournaments in Melbourne.
Last year's finalist beaten
For Dominic Thiem, the first Grand Slam of the year is already over.
Last year's finalist and third in the world rankings was defeated by Bulgarian
Grigor Dimitrov
4: 6, 4: 6, 0: 6 and was largely without a chance.
Two days after the five-set win against the Australian Nick Kyrgios, the 27-year-old Thiem, who had reached at least the quarter-finals of all three majors in 2020, looked battered and powerless.
The game in the Rod Laver Arena lasted only 2:01 hours, then Dimitrov converted his second match point.
Last year Thiem was still in the final in Melbourne.
"The disappointment is of course huge," said the Austrian after his unexpectedly clear defeat.
"It was a combination of several things: a few physical things, a really bad day, and then Grigor is just a good player too." He didn't want to go into more detail about his physical problems.
“I don't want to make excuses.
I'm not a machine, even if I would like to be one. "
Dimitrov now meets the Russian
Aslan Karazew
, who had previously caused an equally big surprise: the 27-year-old qualifier continued his winning run with a 3: 6, 1: 6, 6: 3, 6: 3, 6: 4 success against the favorite Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Karazew is in the main draw of a major for the first time and is only the seventh professional of the Open Era since 1968, who immediately reached the round of eight.
The last time the Romanian Alex Radulescu succeeded in doing this was in 1996 at Wimbledon.
Icon: The mirror
sak / dpa / sid
