The question of the day was ‘Who is going to make the quarter-finals?’. Round 4 action started with an upset. Madison Keys knocked out 8th seed Badosa in 2 comfortable sets. Krejcikova cruised past Azarenka 6-2; 6-2 to set up a quarter-final against Keys. Pegula caused another upset as she knocked out the 5th seeded Greek, Sakkari in straight sets. The last ladies match was between Anisimova who knocked out the defending champ Osaka and the number 1 in the world and home favourite, Barty. Barty brought the party as she is still yet to drop a set.

On the men’s side, Rafa Nadal, had to work extremely hard in the first set against unseeded Frenchman, Mannarino. Nadal managing to take it 16-14 in the tiebreaker. After the first set though, Mannarino started to struggle physically and Nadal won the next 2 sets 6-2 to make another grand slam quarter-final. 14th seed, Shapovalov has not had an easy run here at the Australian Open but today he recorded his first straight set win and it came against the number 3 in the world, Zverev. Shapovalov will face Nadal in the quarter-final. Monfils and Kecmanovic put on a show for the crowd in the John Cain Arena. Monfils prevailing in straight sets. The Frenchman still yet to drop a set at this years Aussie Open. 7th seed, Berrettini was up against 19th seed, Carreno Busta. The Italian coming through in straight sets and will face Monfils in the quarter-finals.

Onto the leaderboard. We have another new leader and today the leader is ‘Magic Team’. They have a 2 point lead over our previous leader ‘Novax Needed’. ‘To immunity and Beyond’ move down 1 place to 3rd. ‘Root Shots’ move back into a prize position and sit in 4th. There is a 3 way tie for 5th between ‘Game Set Vaccinated’, ‘Simply Smashing’ and ‘Eish’. On the other end of the leaderboard ‘Vax on Vax off’ had a good day today and move up 2 places. This leaves ‘Meerkat’ who is the current wooden spoon holder. We also sadly have our first team eliminated. ‘Highly Strung’ have lost all of their picks.

Matches on Day 7:

• Nadal(6) beat Mannarino – 7-6(14); 6-2; 6-2
• Shapovalov(14) beat Zverev(3) – 6-3; 7-6(5); 6-3
• Monfils(17) beat Kecmanovic – 7-5; 7-6(4); 6-3
• Berrettini(7) beat Carreno Busta(19) – 7-5:7-6(4); 6-4

• Keys beat Badosa(8) – 6-3; 6-1
• Krejcikova(4) beat Azarenka(24) – 6-2; 6-2
• Pegula(21) beat Sakkari(5) – 7-6(0); 6-3
• Barty(1) beat Anisimova – 6-4; 6-3

Matches to watch tomorrow:

• Collins(27) vs Mertens(19) (02:00)
• Halep(14) vs Cornet (04:00)
• Swiatek(7) vs Cirstea (08:30)
• Kanepi vs Sabalenka(2) (12:00)

• De Minaur(32) vs Sinner(11) (04:00)
• Cressy vs Medvedev(2) (05:00)
• Cilic(27) vs Auger-Aliassime(9) (05:00)
• Fritz(20) vs Tsitsipas(4) (10:00)

Jared

Jared matriculated in 2020 from Wynberg Boys High School in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. His passion for tennis afforded him the opportunity of travelling to Europe. He is a quizmaster and a fantasy organiser.