Australian Open 2021: Day 7– Osaka, Williams, Halep all reach Quarter-Finals, Swiatek bows out


Australian Open 2021: Day 7– Osaka, Williams, Halep all reach Quarter-Finals, Swiatek bows out

Osaka, Williams and Halep

Osaka, Williams and Halep

Day 7 of the Australian open saw hot favorites Naomi Osaka Serena Williams and Simona Halep taken into three sets. Whereas Hsieh Su-wei reaches her first singles QF.

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Naomi Osaka gets past Garbine Muguruza after saving match points

Naomi Osaka was taken to the distance against in-form Garbine Muguruza of Spain in the fourth round of the Australian Open 2021. Both players were evenly matched and that was evident in the way they played.

Muguruza did her best to take out Osaka and even put her in the back foot at times. Muguruza even had match points however, the Japanese was able to come back and take the win 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Serena Williams eases into the QF with a tight three-set victory over Aryna Sabalenka

American veteran Serena Williams got the better of Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round of the Australian Open 2021. Sabalenka was the higher-ranked player going into the match, and showed that she can match Serena toe to toe.

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The match was probably one the most intense match of the tournament so far as both the players had to fight for every point. Eventually, with her experience the American held her nerve to defeat Sabalenka 6-4,2-6,6-4.

Hsieh Su-wei defeats Markéta Vondroušová to reach maiden grand slam Quarter-Final

The unseeded 35-year-old from Taiwan, Hsieh Su-wei has long been considered a doubles specialist but has developed a knack of knocking off top players in singles matches in recent years.

She added Czech 19th seed Marketa Vondrousova to the list with a 6-4 6-2 victory that ensured she would face U.S. Open champion Osaka in an all-Asian quarter-final. 

“I don’t really care I win or I lose. I just try my best and play the game. All the girls, they play different games. It’s very interesting when you have some difficult situations. I want to try to find a way and try to get into the game. At least I try. If I lose, I don’t lose anything. It’s no problem for me.”, she said after the match.

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Simona Halep defeats Iga Swiatek in a 3-set epic

In a high quality match at Rod Laver Arena, world no.2 Simona Halep outclassed Iga Swiatek 3-6,6-1,6-4. Coming from a set down, Halep broke Swiatek multiple times to grab the second set.

In the third set, the two players matched each other’s game until Halep got the decisive break of serve. There was no coming back from then. Halep will face Serena Williams in the QF.

Also read: Australian Open 2021: “It’s quarterfinals of a Grand Slam. I’ve been here more times than I could even count. That’s the right attitude for me to have”, Serena Williams on her Quarter-Finals chances