SYDNEY (AP) — Ons Jabeur advanced to the quarterfinals of the Sydney Tennis Classic by beating two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 6-4, 6-4 Wednesday in one of several warm-up tournaments for next week’s Australian Open.
The seventh-seeded Jabeur had five aces and won 76% of her first-serve points to set up a match against fourth-seeded Anett Kontaveit.
“I’ve been working a lot on myself and my mentality,” said Jabeur, who will be seeded ninth at the Australian Open. “Everyone knows if I decide to do something then I do it, and I am going with that mentality from now on.”
Kontaviet advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3, 6-1.
French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova had to wait out a rain delay before beating Jaqueline Cristian 6-1, 7-5 in her first singles match of 2022. She will next play Caroline Garcia, who advanced after ninth-seeded Elena Rybakina withdrew from their second-round match because of an injured left thigh.
Third-ranked Garbine Muguruza defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-1, 7-6 (4) to set up a quarterfinal match against Daria Kasatkina. Kasatkina backed up her win earlier this week over 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Elise Mertens.
In the men’s draw, top-seeded Aslan Karatsev beat Miomir Kecmanovic 7-5, 6-4 and Brandon Nakashima defeated seventh-seeded Fabio Fognini 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6). Third-seeded Daniel Evans and fourth-seeded Reilly Opelka advanced with straight-set wins.
The top two seeds are already out of the Adelaide International 2. Thiago Monteiro was leading 6-7 (2), 6-3, 1-0 when top-seeded Gael Monfils retired with what was reported to be a neck or shoulder problem.
Thanaski Kokkinakis labored for almost three hours to beat John Isner 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) in a match with no service breaks. Isner had 23 aces, but Kokkinakis replied with 15 to oust the second-seeded American.
Third-seeded Karin Khachanov beat Gianluca Mager 7-5, 6-3, fourth-seeded Marin Cilic defeated Jaume Munar 7-6 (6), 6-2, and Corentin Moutet of France eliminated eighth-seeded Marton Fucsovics 6-2, 6-2.
In the women’s event in Adelaide, 17-year-old American Coco Gauff beat Marta Kostyuk 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, Madison Keys defeated Tereza Martincova 6-1, 6-3, and Ana Konjuh eliminated sixth-seeded Marketa Vondrousova 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3).
Tuneup tournaments for the season-opening major are continuing in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide this week.
While those tournaments were in full swing, the top-seeded players at the Australian Open had practice sessions on the main court at Melbourne Park, with women’s No. 1 Ash Barty followed by nine-time champion Novak Djokovic at Rod Laver Arena.
