Australian Open Glance: A look at the quarterfinals on Day 9
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A quick look at the Australian Open:
LOOKAHEAD TO WEDNESDAY
Serena Williams is looking forward to a Grand Slam rematch with Karolina Pliskova in the Australian Open quarterfinals. "She's ready. I'm ready. Let's do it!" The 23-time major champion has a 2-1 lead in head-to-heads but the one loss to Pliskova was in the semifinals at the 2016 U.S. Open. Williams won their next U.S. Open encounter in the quarterfinals last year. Another win for Williams could set up a rematch of last year's U.S. Open final with Naomi Osaka, who plays Elina Svitolina in the other quarterfinal. Osaka and Svitolina both have a chance of moving into the top ranking. Osaka's first Grand Slam title was overshadowed to a degree by Williams' clash with chair umpire Carlos Ramos and subsequent $17,000 fine. On the men's side, it's top-ranked Novak Djokovic against Kei Nishikori, who has been taken to five sets in three of his matches so far and twice had to win in 10-point, fifth-set super tiebreakers that have been introduced this year. He has been on court for nearly 14 hours and will be tired, but Djokovic said he had some aches and pains, too, after a late-night fourth-round win over Daniil Medvedev. Djokovic has a 15-2 record against 2014 U.S. Open finalist Nishikori — including 14 straight wins — and has won the Australian title six times. One more would give him the men's record outright. No. 16 Milos Raonic meets No. 28 Lucas Pouille in the other men's quarterfinal. Raonic has been to the quarterfinals or better at eight previous majors, including a run to the 2016 Wimbledon final. Pouille is 0-2 in previous Grand Slam quarters. His coach, Amelie Mauresmo, won the Australian women's title in 2006.
WEDNESDAY FORECAST
Morning drizzle clearing to a mostly sunny day, high of 25 Celsius (77 Fahrenheit).
TUESDAY'S WEATHER
Mostly sunny, high of 27 C (80 F).
TUESDAY'S RESULTS
Men's quarterfinals: No. 2 Rafael Nadal beat Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4, 6-2; No. 14 Stefanos Tsitsipas beat No. 22 Roberto Bautista-Agut 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2).
Women's quarterfinals: No. 8 Petra Kvitova beat No. 15 Ash Barty 6-1, 6-4; Danielle Collins beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
STAT OF THE DAY
1 — Tsitsipas, the youngest man to reach a major semifinal since 2007, is the first player from Greece to reach last four at a Grand Slam.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I'm calling it my 'second career.' So it's the first semifinal of the 'second career.'" — Kvitova explaining her emotions on reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal since being injured in a home invasion in late 2016.