Australian Open—Melbourne, Australia
Nine-time former winner Novak Djokovic took another step toward the title on Monday at the Australian Open, easily dispatching Alex de Minaur 6-2, 6-1, 6-2.
Needing two hours and six minutes to advance, Djokovic hit four aces, won 75 percent of his first serve points and broke serve on six occasions.
The Serb will next face No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev, who need five sets to get by No. 9 seed Holgar Rune, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(9).
Elsewhere, Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton set up an all-American quaterfinal by defeating No. 24 seed Roberto Bautista Agut and J.J. Wolf, respectfully.
On the women’s side, No. 5 seed Aryna Sabalenka stormed past No. 12 seed Belinda Bencic 7-5, 6-2, Magda Linette defeated No. 4 seed Caroline Garcia 7-6(3), 6-4, Donna Vekic advanced over Linda Fruhvirtova 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 and No. 30 seed Karolina Pliskova dispatched No. 23 seed Shuai Zhang 6-0, 6-4.
Tuesday’s action in Melbourne will feature Stefanos Tsitsipas and Jessica Pegula.
Fourth-Round Results:
(4) Novak Djokovic Defeats (22) Alex de Minaur 62 61 62
(5) Andrey Rublev Defeats (9) Holger Rune 63 36 63 46 76(9)
Tommy Paul Defeats (24) Roberto Bautista Agut 62 46 62 75
Ben Shelton Defeats J.J. Wolf 67(5) 62 67(4) 76(4) 62
