The Latest: Brady in all-US quarterfinal at Australian Open
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Latest on the Australian Open (all times local):
3:10 p.m.
Jennifer Brady has set up an all-American quarterfinal at the Australian Open against Jessica Pegula.
The 22nd-seeded Brady made it to the round of eight at Melbourne Park for the first time by defeating No. 28 Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-1, 7-5 with the help of nine aces.
Brady went through two weeks of hard quarantine when she got to Australia last month because someone on her flight tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival. She was not allowed to leave her hotel room at all during that time.
Brady is from Pennsylvania and played college tennis at UCLA.
She was a semifinalist at last year’s U.S. Open.
Vekic’s right knee was heavily taped by a trainer early in the second set, but she kept things close from there until 5-all. That’s when a double-fault handed over a break at love to Brady, who then served out the victory.
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2:40 p.m.
Daniil Medvedev has added the Australian Open to his list of major quarterfinal appearances and stopped the run of 192nd-ranked American Mackenzie McDonald.
The No. 4-seeded Medvedev needed just 1 1/2 hours to stretch his winning streak to 18 matches with the 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 victory at Margaret Court Arena.
Medvedev was the 2019 U.S. Open runner-up and reached the semifinals there last year.
He had lost in the fourth round at Melbourne Park each of the past two years. But he compiled 29 winners to just 15 unforced errors against McDonald, who won NCAA singles and doubles titles for UCLA in 2016 but is working his way back from a torn hamstring tendon less than two years ago.
Next up will be a match against either his Russian countryman Andrey Rublev or Norway’s Casper Ruud.
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1:15 p.m.
Jessica Pegula has reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open by earning her first victory over an opponent ranked in the Top 10.
The 61st-ranked American, whose parents own Buffalo’s NFL and NHL franchises, beat No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in Rod Laver Arena.
Pegula is a 26-year-old who has won four matches at Melbourne Park over the past week after entering the tournament with a total of three Grand Slam match wins for her career.
She came into the day with an 0-6 record against Top 10 women.
In the quarterfinals, the unseeded Pegula will play No. 22 Jennifer Brady of the United States or No. 28 Donna Vekic of Croatia.
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11:15 a.m.
Play is underway on Day 8 as Americans Jessica Pegula, Jennifer Brady and Shelby Rogers look to advance to the quarterfinals.
Pegula, who is appearing in the second week of a major for the first time, takes on fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina. Svitolina beat Pegula in straight sets when they met last month in Abu Dhabi.
Next up at Rod Laver Arena will be Brady’s fourth-round match against Donna Vekic. Brady has only had her service broken once in three matches.
Rogers has the toughest job of all when she faces top-ranked Ash Barty to begin night play at Rod Laver. Rogers’ only advantage is that Barty won’t have any partisan Aussie fans to cheer her on — for the third day in a row, spectators are banned on-site due to a five-day COVID-19 lockdown.
Rafael Nadal continues his quest for a men’s-record 21st Grand Slam singles title when he plays Fabio Fognini. Unseeded American Mackenzie McDonald plays fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev at Margaret Court Arena, with Medvedev on a 17-match winning streak.
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