MELBOURNE, Jan 27 (Reuters) – The Australian Open quarter-finals will continue on Wednesday with defending champion Jannik Sinner facing American Ben Shelton, while world number two Iga Swiatek takes on Elena Rybakina.
TOP MEN’S MATCH: DJOKOVIC V MUSETTI
Novak Djokovic’s pursuit of a record 25th Grand Slam title has been smooth sailing so far, with the Serbian yet to drop a set and benefiting from a fourth-round walkover when Jakub Mensik withdrew due to injury.
The 38-year-old faces Italian Lorenzo Musetti on Wednesday in what could be his toughest test yet at Melbourne Park, though history heavily favours Djokovic, who has nine wins from their 10 previous meetings.
In their last match, Djokovic claimed his 101st ATP title with a three-set victory at the Hellenic Championship in Athens.
“I think it will be a tough match, for sure. Of course, he’s feeling good. He never lost a set. He had the chance to rest for a few days,” Musetti told reporters.
“At this age, I think he was happy about it, to try to be well-prepared and well-relaxed for this match. We know each other pretty well because we played a lot.
“Just won once against him. Hopefully I’ll take my revenge, because last time in Athens we were really, really close. I feel like I have another chance now.”
TOP WOMEN’S MATCH: RYBAKINA V SWIATEK
Second seed Swiatek faces Rybakina in a rematch of their WTA Finals clash in November, in which the Russian-born Kazakh claimed a 3-6 6-1 6-0 victory en route to winning the season-ending title.
Poland’s Swiatek edges their head-to-head record at 6-5.
“It doesn’t make sense to overanalyse who won the last ones or how it has been looking,” Swiatek said.
“Every match is a different story. In every match she’s been a tough opponent, and her tennis for sure is great. I need to be 100% ready and go for it and use my experience and also the knowledge from previous matches.”
SHELTON IN ‘LOCKDOWN MODE’ AHEAD OF SINNER TEST
The night session at Rod Laver Arena features two-times champion Sinner taking on Shelton, with the Italian world number two boasting an 8-1 record against the eighth seed.
Their meeting at the Australian Open comes one round earlier than when they met in last year’s semi-final, which Sinner won in straight sets.
Shelton lost to Sinner three more times in 2025.
“I think my return game has improved a lot. A year ago today I wasn’t comfortable hitting a forehand return. I didn’t put a lot in play,” added Shelton.
“I had to go to the chip a lot to put it in play. And now I’m getting to a point in the match where I feel like I’m lock-down mode, and I can’t miss one.”
AUSTRALIAN OPEN ORDER OF PLAY ON WEDNESDAY
Order of play on the 11th day of the Australian Open (prefix number denotes seeding):
ROD LAVER ARENA
Day session (0030 GMT/1130 AEDT)
5-Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) v 2-Iga Swiatek (Poland)
Day session (0200 GMT/1300 AEDT)
6-Jessica Pegula (U.S.) v Amanda Anisimova (U.S.)
Day session (0200 GMT/1300 AEDT)
5-Lorenzo Musetti (Italy) v 4-Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
Night session (0800 GMT/1900 AEDT)
8-Ben Shelton (U.S.) v 2-Jannik Sinner (Italy)
Ena Shibahara (Japan)/Vera Zvonareva (Russia) v Kimberly Birrell (Australia)/Talia Gibson (Australia)
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
Comments