Contrary to what Daniil Medvedev may have suggested, day eight of the Australian Open was anything but boring. A slew of tense, torrid and at times exhausting fourth-round matches finally came to a close as the clock struck midnight in Melbourne, as Stefanos Tsitsipas gritted his teeth to battle past Taylor Fritz in five sets and Kaia Kanepi ousted Aryna Sabalenka in a dramatic final-set tiebreak.
It had been quite the day. Of the eight singles matches to take place across the men’s and women’s draws, Kanepi’s victory over Sabalenka was the shortest at two hours and 19 minutes. All four women’s matches went to deciding sets and of the four men to reach the quarter-finals on Monday, only Jannik Sinner did so in straight sets and with any hint of a cruise. As Iga Swiatek, the 2020 French Open champion, broke down in tears after finally seeing off Sorana Cirstea, many would have felt like doing the same.
