Sinner is having a hard time when Monfils and Tien withdraw at the Australian Open

Jannik Sinner battled through illness to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, but the physical demands of Grand Slam tennis proved too much for French veteran Gael Monfils and American teenager Learner Tien.

Iga Swiatek was in superb form as she continued her bid for a maiden title at Melbourne Park and sixth major by downing lucky loser Eva Lys 6-0 6-1, but Elena Rybakina could not shake off a back problem and fell 6- 3 1 -6 6-3 to Madison Keys.

Monfils, 38, was forced to retire with his own back problem as he trailed American young gun Ben Shelton 7-6(3) 6-7(3) 7-6(2) 1-0, ending a inspired run at the first Grand Slam of the year after his triumph in Auckland.

The stifling heat didn’t help defending champion Sinner as he began to struggle physically in the second set of his fourth-round clash with Denmark’s Holger Rune on a steamy afternoon at Rod Laver Arena.

The top seed did not want to go into detail about what ailed him but admitted to feeling dizzy before a lengthy medical timeout in the third set that proved to be a turning point in his 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2 victory .

“I didn’t feel very good,” said the 23-year-old Sinner, who equaled the Italian record set by Nicky Pietrangeli by reaching his 10th Grand Slam quarter-final. “I think we saw that today, I struggled physically.”

Sinner will next face home hope Alex de Minaur after he beat rising American Alex Michelsen 6-0 7-6(5) 6-3 to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals for the first time.

“There’s nothing I want more than to play well here in Australia. Glad I finally made it to the quarter-finals here, but yeah, let’s go for bigger and better things, come on!” eighth-seeded De Minaur said after the Rod Laver Arena night game.

Unseeded Lorenzo Sonego made it two Italians in the quarter-finals when he defeated limping 19-year-old American qualifier Tien 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-1, having also taken out Brazilian young gun Joao Fonseca in the second round.

“I’m so sorry he had a problem,” said the 29-year-old Sonego, who has never gone this deep in a Grand Slam before and will face Shelton next. “That’s not the right way to win.”

Bidding to become the youngest man to reach the quarters since Goran Ivanisevic did it as a 17-year-old in 1989, Tien stretched his tight right thigh after a double fault and never looked physically fit.

Ivanisevic was part of Rybakina’s team at Melbourne Park with her coach Stefano Vukov, who was banned for the tournament by the WTA due to a potential breach of the code of conduct.

The former Wimbledon champion said it was hardly an ideal situation and she still felt a back problem, but she made no excuses after her loss to Keys in a roller-coaster match at the Margaret Court Arena.

“I had some opportunities but it is what it is,” said the disappointed sixth seed. “I have to work better.”

‘Spirit of Ukraine’

Keys was delighted to be back in the last eight in Melbourne a decade after the first of her two runs to the semi-finals.

“It’s hard to believe it was 10 years ago,” she said. “But I’m really proud of myself… to be out here and still playing some good tennis all these years later, I’m happy.”

Keys will next play a familiar foe in Elina Svitolina, who brought a “little light” to war-torn Ukraine by beating Russian Veronika Kudermetova 6-4 6-1 in the opening singles match.

The 30-year-old Ukrainian was 4-1 down in the first set but rallied for a comfortable victory before writing the message “The Spirit of Ukraine” on camera before leaving the court.

“I was extremely motivated to win today so people in Ukraine wake up to good news,” said Svitolina, who moved to 7-0 against Russian players since the 2022 invasion of her homeland.

“For me, finding a way to win games, finding a way to bring a little light, a little victory for the Ukrainian people is something that I feel I’m responsible for.”

Svitolina was back on Margaret Court Arena later to cheer on her husband Monfils, but there was no double joy.

That was reserved for Swiatek, who after her win got the news that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) would not appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in her doping case after she tested positive for trimetazidine last year.

The Pole had accepted a one-month ban after explaining that her positive test was the result of contamination from her sleep medication melatonin.

Sinner still faces the prospect of a ban after testing positive for the anabolic agent clostebol last year. The Italian was also cleared of wrongdoing, but WADA appealed to the sport’s highest court with a hearing starting on April 16.

A relieved Swiatek next faces American Emma Navarro, who beat Russian Daria Kasatkina 6-4 5-7 7-5.

– Reuters