Tournament top favorite Daniil Medvedev provided the next proof of his class at the Australian Open. The 25-year-old Russian did not miss a beat in the 6: 4, 6: 4, 6: 2 round of 16 against the Dutch US Open quarter-finalist Botic van de Zandschulp and repeatedly freed himself convincingly from precarious situations.
Van de Zandschulp clearly defeated Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round.
In the absence of world number one Novak Djokovic, last year’s finalist Medvedev is the highest-ranked professional in Melbourne and, along with Alexander Zverev and 20-time major champion Rafael Nadal, is one of the narrow circle of title candidates. Last year he celebrated his first Grand Slam triumph at the US Open and along the way also defeated van de Zandschulp in four sets.
Again, Medvedev proved to be too constant and variable, but he had to work a lot for his victory. This was even more true for the American Taylor Fritz, who won 6-0, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 against the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.