British interest in the singles at the Australian Open ended with Cameron Norrie’s five-set defeat to Alexander Zverev in the fourth round.
The 19th seed came agonisingly close to another upset but lost out in a deciding tie-break.
Carlos Alcaraz eased into the last eight in Melbourne for the first time while Zheng Qinwen is the only seed left in the top half of the women’s draw.
Picture of the day
It’s no red white and blue dress ?? but the green and gold comes in a close second. Thank you Australia ?? Already excited to see you next year ♥️ pic.twitter.com/267vcVew7B
— Katie Boulter (@katiecboulter) January 22, 2024
Stat of the day
32 – With Alexander Zverev and Cameron Norrie going to a fifth set in their R16 matchup, it will be the 32nd five-set match at this year’s AO, breaking the Open Era for five-setters at the event – 31, 1998. Marathons.#AusOpen | @AustralianOpen @TennisAustralia @atptour pic.twitter.com/8a7FGDiEqW
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) January 22, 2024
Junior power
A 17-year-old serving a 233 km/h serve…
Tomask Berkieta (third seed in the Boys’ singles) hit the fastest serve of this #AusOpen ?
Ben Shelton previously held this year’s record at 228 km/h pic.twitter.com/EhFazElj81
— ITF (@ITFTennis) January 22, 2024
Mixed doubles
? @HeatherWatson92 & Joe Salisbury charge through to the @AustralianOpen quarter-finals! #BackTheBrits ?? | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/87vvvaVsZQ
— LTA (@the_LTA) January 22, 2024
Unusually, no British players have made the quarter-finals of the men’s doubles. But there is guaranteed to be a British semi-finalist in the mixed doubles, where Joe Salisbury and Heather Watson play Neal Skupski and his American partner Desirae Krawczyk.
Fallen seeds
Women: Victoria Azarenka (18), Elina Svitolina (19), Jasmine Paolini (26)
Men: Cameron Norrie (19)
Who’s up next?
IDEM????? #AusOpen #AO2024 pic.twitter.com/3Hxe4ne2oL
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) January 21, 2024
The quarter-finals get under way on Tuesday, with Novak Djokovic again given a day-session slot for his clash with American Taylor Fritz.
Coco Gauff is first up taking on unseeded Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, while defending women’s champion Aryna Sabalenka plays Barbora Krejcikova at night.
The final match of the day pits fourth seed Jannik Sinner, who is yet to drop a set, against fifth seed Andrey Rublev.