Italian tennis fans must find it hard at times to know exactly which of their army of world-class players to follow, and on Day 9 it was the turn of 29-year-old world No.55 Lorenzo Sonego to enjoy his latest moment in the spotlight.
The right-hander, remember, was the man who stopped Brazilian teenage sensation Joao Fonseca in five sets earlier in the Australian Open draw, and Monday’s adventure saw him finally end the run of another teenager to keep an eye on this season, American qualifier Learner Tien.
Sonego’s 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-1 victory at John Cain Arena – followed by one of his trademark celebratory victory screams – represents a significant milestone for the passionate Italian, a first quarterfinal at Grand Slam level.
“I think something changed in my mind,” explained Sonego, who smacked 20 aces and 57 winners during two hours and 25 minutes on court. “The mentality has improved. I think my tennis also has improved a lot.”
The Italian No.5 in the current ATP live rankings will fancy his chances of going even deeper in the draw as his next test comes against young American Ben Shelton, back in the last eight in Melbourne after reaching the same stage two years ago.
Shelton went through when 38-year-old Frenchman Gael Monfils’ run finally came to an end, the popular showman forced to retire with a back injury with his leftie opponent fractionally ahead on the scoreboard 7-6(3) 6-7(3) 7-6(2) 1-0.
Just above them in the draw, it was a surprisingly uncomfortable day for defending champion Jannik Sinner despite a four-set win over Denmark’s Holger Rune.
The Italian was clearly off-colour and had to take a medical timeout during the contest – played in the heat of a day that reached 34 degrees – that also featured a 21-minute disruption while the net was repaired following a Sinner serve.
The two men certainly brought the entertainment at times and produced the point of the tournament – a spellbinding 37-shot rally – early in the third set.
Sinner must rest and recover ahead of his next test against Aussie hero Alex de Minaur on Wednesday, after the eighth seed moved into his first Australian Open quarterfinal with a dominant 6-0 7-6(5) 6-3 win against 20-year-old American Alex Michelsen.
Another big name in a ruthless mood was women’s second seed Iga Swiatek, who crushed German lucky loser Eva Lys 6-0 6-1 in 59 minutes.
Swiatek has dropped just 11 games in four matches, and only four games in her last three outings.
She’ll take on match-hardened American Emma Navarro in the quarterfinals after the No.8 seed won her fourth successive three-setter to fight past Daria Kasatkina.
Navarro let slip three match points with Kasatkina serving at 4-5 in the second set before steadying herself to emerge a 6-4 5-7 7-5 winner in two hours, 40 minutes.
While husband Monfils said goodbye to the tournament, Elina Svitolina extended the family’s stay in Australia with an impressive 6-4 6-1 result against Russian Veronika Kudermetova, despite finding herself 4-1 down in the opening set.
Svitolina, who is into her first AO quarterfinal since 2019, will play American Madison Keys for a spot in the semifinals.
The 19th seed and recent Adelaide champion claimed her ninth successive win of the year by taking out AO 2023 runner-up Elena Rybakina 6-3 1-6 6-3.