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Melbourne, Jan. 26 (IANS): Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic remain on course to meet each other at the semi-final of the 2020 Australian Open. Both players won their respective fourth-round matches and went through to the quarter-finals in Melbourne on Sunday.
Federer, 38, faced Hungary's Marton Fucsovics who managed to win the first set of the match. But the Swiss great hardly gave anything away after that and roared to a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 win. Federer will now face American Tennys Sandgren in the quarters on Tuesday.
Djokovic had a more straightforward path to the quarters. The 32-year-old beat Argentina's Diego Schwartzmann 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to set up a match against Canadian Milos Raonic.
Sandgren got to the quarters with an intense 7-6 (7), 7-5, 6-7 (2), 6-4 win over Italian Fabio Fognini. Raonic, on the other hand, beat Croatian Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.
World no.1 Ashleigh Barty will face world no.2 Karolina Pliskova in the quarters. Barty, looking to become the first Australian to win the title in Melbourne since Chris O'Neil in 1978, beat world no. 18 Alison Riske 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 while Pliskova beat Greek Maria Sakkari 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2.
American teen sensation Coco Gauff's run was stopped by her compatriot Sofia Kenin. Kenin won the match 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-0 and set up a match against Tunisia's Ons Jabeur who beat China's Qiang Wang.
Jabeur is the first Arab woman to reach Grand Slam quarters
Unseeded Tunisian Ons Jabeur on Sunday became the first Arab woman to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final as she defeated China's Wang Qiang in an Australian Open tie.
Jabeur fought back from a break down in the first set to win the contest 7-6 (7/4), 6-1.
Jabeur, 25, is the highest-ranked Arab woman in history as she had reached a career-high 51 last year.
"I'm really shaking right now, it's unbelievable. I can't describe how I feel," said Jabeur, who will become the first Arab woman to crack the top 50 when the new rankings come out next week.
She will now be up against America's No.14 seed Sofia Kenin, who knocked out Coco Gauff on Melbourne Arena and talking of the upcoming affair, Jabeur said:
"Sofia is a really good player, she's a tough one, she's a fighter, last time she won against me, so maybe now it's my revenge."