Rejuvenated Sinner sails into quarter-finals

Jannik Sinner looked rejuvenated as he sailed into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with an assured victory over fellow Italian Luciano Darderi.

Defending champion Sinner said himself he was “lucky” to still be competing in Melbourne after he battled 40C heat and cramping in a testing third-round match.

Only coming off court and having the roof pulled over saved Sinner from a shock defeat by American world number 85 Eliot Spizzirri on Saturday.

But the second seed looked fresher against an injury-hampered Darderi as he surged through the opening two sets, dropping just four games.

There were still some signs of fatigue, as Sinner appeared to fade late in the third set when Darderi put up more resistance to force a tie-break.

But the four-time major winner managed to up his level to secure a 6-1 6-3 7-6 (7-2) win – his 18th successive victory at Melbourne Park.

“It was very, very difficult. We are good friends off the court,” Sinner said.

“In the third set I had couple of break chances, I couldn’t use them and then I got very, very tight. So I’m happy that I closed it in three sets.”

Sinner will face American eighth seed Ben Shelton in the last eight.

The 24-year-old is bidding to become just the second man after Novak Djokovic to win three successive Australian Open titles.

It took him just 27 minutes to wrap up the first set, having stormed ahead 5-0 before Darderi got on the board.

The 22nd seed, who seemed to struggle with a thigh injury, became increasingly frustrated in the second set and whacked a ball away as Sinner’s momentum continued to grow.

Having gone through the first and second set without a single break point, Darderi had four chances late in the third to strike a crucial blow to Sinner’s hopes of an early finish.

But Sinner fended them off and it was plain sailing through the tie-break for the defending champion, who finished with 19 aces and 46 winners.

Earlier on Monday, Lorenzo Musetti produced a dominant display to beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets and set up a quarter-final against 10-time winner Novak Djokovic.

After coming through a gruelling five-set battle against Tomas Machac two days earlier, Musetti cruised to a 6-2 7-5 6-4 win over the American ninth seed.

The 23-year-old Italian, ranked fifth in the world, has now reached the quarter-finals at all four Grand Slam tournaments and said he will push Djokovic to his “maximum”.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion advanced to the last eight after Jakub Mensik withdrew before their fourth-round match with an abdominal injury.

“Novak, we’ve played many, many times and every time it’s a lesson,” said Musetti, who has won only one of his 10 meetings with the Serb.

“He didn’t have to play today, so I’m pretty sure he won’t be tired. Hopefully the rhythm I have right now with the great match today will bring me luck for the next one.

“I feel ready to try to push him to the maximum.”

Djokovic, 38, will have had three days off to rest and recover by the time he faces Musetti on Wednesday.

Musetti hammered down 13 aces on Monday and won 84% of points on his first serve, while he fended off each of the two break points he faced against Fritz.

“The serve was really working well – I made probably one of my best performances with aces in my career, so I’m really really happy,” Musetti added.

“The goal was to start the year well as I’d never surpassed the first week here. Being in the quarter-finals here is really a dream.”

Musetti, who reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros last year, dedicated his victory to his coach and physio, who had to fly home earlier this week for personal reasons.

“We’ve been a little bit unlucky off the court, for personal reasons they had to go back but they’re here with their hearts,” Musetti said.

“It’s tough to speak because when real life knocks the door it’s something really surprising – I feel more mature on the court and playing better also for that, and for them.”

Shelton awaits Sinner in the quarter-finals after fighting back from a set down to beat Norway’s Casper Ruud 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena.

Still focused on improving his semi-final run in last year’s tournament, Shelton saw the opening set slip from his grasp in just 37 minutes, despite not dropping a set in the opening three rounds.

But all was not lost for the eighth seed, who upped his serving game and cut down on his unforced errors to win the next three sets back-to-back.

He only got 57% of his first serves in and made 15 unforced errors in the opening set, compared to getting 77% of his first serves in and making just eight unforced errors in the second set.

After taking a while to settle into the encounter, the American rallied to a four-set victory in two hours and 38 minutes – ending Ruud’s best run at a Grand Slam since the 2024 US Open and his best Australian Open outing since 2021.

“I want to improve on things that I didn’t do so well last year and leave it all out on the court. I have a lot more that I want to do here and a lot I want to improve.”