Round 4 and the start of week 2 at the first grand slam of the year. A good day for the seeded players today and if you were wanting an upset then day 8 was not the day you wanted.

The ladies kicked us off on day 8 so I will start with the ladies today and Sabalenka continues her unbeaten run of hard court as she rocketed past Andreeva, dropping just 3 games to book her spot in the quarter-finals. Her opponent in the quarters will be 27th seed, Pavlyuchenkova who beat the 18th seed today, Vekic. The first set was tight as Pavlyuchenkova won it in a tiebreak but then once she got the opener she didn’t drop another game on her way to the quarter-finals. 3rd seed, Gauff dropped her first set of 2025. The American had to come back from a set down against unseeded Swiss, Bencic but she managed to do it dropping just 3 games after dropping the opening set. Her opponent is 11th seed, Badosa who has finally find some form again. The Spanish star beating unseeded Danilovic 6-1; 7-6(2) to book her spot in the quarter-finals.

On the mens side, Tommy Paul continues his run at this years Aussie Open as he cruised past Davidovich Fokina 6-1; 6-1; 6-1 making him the best pick on day 8 with 12 points scored and the best pick overall now as well with 36 points scored at this years Aussie Open. His opponent in the quarter-finals is 2nd seed, Zverev who was the only man to drop a set in the 4th round. Zverev beating 14th seed, Humbert 6-1; 2-6; 6-3; 6-2 to book his spot in the quarter-finals. 3rd seed, Alcaraz continues his rich vain of form as he beat Draper. Draper however was hampered by injury after playing 3, 5 set matches in a row at this years Aussie Open. Alcaraz winning that 7-5; 6-1 ret. He sets up a mouth watering quarter-final against 7th seed, Djokovic. Djokovic coming through against in form 24th seed, Lehecka, 6-3; 6-4; 7-6(4).

Onto the leaderboard and we have a new leader…’Miss Hits’ comes fighting back on day 8 and now leads by 1 point over previous leader ‘Wallabie Wannebes’. 2 points further back and definitely still in the fight is ‘Kick My Ace’ in 3rd. ‘Heksie’s Pot Luck’ drops down into 4th but is just 5 points off the lead. Then there is a tie for 5th between ‘Faulty Feet’ and ‘Vegemite Sandwich’. Still all to play for at the top. Finally 41st spot is occupied by just 1 team and that team is ‘Racket Scientists’ who moved up 22 spots to reach 41st. ‘Downward Dogs’ had a wretched day on day 8 moving down 14 spots but what will brighten their day is the fact they sit in 69th spot and a spot prize position.

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.