Australia was salivating in advance of this round of 16 between world No. 1 (local) Ashleigh Barty and defending champion Naomi Osaka. However, it will never have taken place. If the Australian continues to unfold over the laps, the Japanese has stopped dead in her southern adventure.
La perf : Amanda Anisimova
After a tormented 2021, Naomi Osaka is no longer the player who won the Australian Open last year. It prevents. The American Amanda Anisimova, 20, had a hell of a match to overcome the former world No. 1 and offer herself an 8th final against Barty.
Anisimova, who was a semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2019 before struggling to recover from her father’s death, even saved two match points at 4-5 in the third set. In the super decisive game, the Floridian of Russian origin, 60th in the WTA, was trailing 2-5 before winning 10-5 on her first match point. With this defeat, Naomi Osaka will find herself beyond the 80th place in the world after the tournament.
The match: Berrettini – Alcaraz
It will certainly remain one of the matches of the fortnight. On a half-filled Rod Laver Arena (gauge requires), Matteo Berrettini and Carlos Alcaraz offered a fiery match for more than four hours. A shock of titans (and big arms) which ended with the victory of the Italian after the effort and the suspense (6-2, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 2-6 , 7-6 (10-5)). The world No. 7 won, but the Spanish prodigy, whose muscles acquired this winter impresses, has taken a date.
“It’s amazing what he’s doing. Me, at his age, I don’t even know if I had an ATP point! With each match, he proves his enormous potential a little more,” breathes Berrettini. The Italian, however, thought he had done the hardest part by leading two sets to nothing (then 4-4) but that was without counting on the sudden fury of the Spaniard and his monstrous forehands. In the round of 16, Berrettini will face another Spaniard, Pablo Carreño Busta, who beat Sebastian Korda on Friday in four sets (6-4, 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-3).
Les Bleues: it’s over for Kiki and Caro
Two small turns and then go away. Associated for the first time in a Grand Slam since 2017, Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia did not go beyond the second round in Melbourne. The tricolor pair lost in three sets against seeded No. 3, Elise Mertens and Veronika Kudermetova (4-6, 6-3, 6-2). In singles, the two French women had left the tournament as soon as they entered the competition.
The star: freewheeling Zverev
In search of his first Grand Slam title, the Tokyo Olympic champion took the first week very seriously. After a somewhat sluggish start against his compatriot Daniel Altmaier (87th player in the world), the No. 3 at ATP has found his cruising speed and has still not lost a single set. Friday, the Moldovan Radu Albot (124th), held less than two hours (6-3, 6-4, 6-4). In the round of 16, Zverev will find Denis Shapovalov. A first test.
The number: 20
Gaël Monfils, world No. 20, qualified for his… 20th Grand Slam round of 16 by dismissing the Chilean Garin without trembling (7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-3 in 2:01). The Parisian, 35, remains ahead of Tsonga and Gasquet but overtakes Yannick Noah.