Anett Kontaveit held off a sterling fightback from teenager Iga Swiatek to make it to a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time in her career. Kontaveit needed three sets to get past the only teenager remaining in the draw, Iga Swiatek of Poland.
Also making it to the last-eight was Garbine Muguruza, who will be gunning for her first semis at the Australian Open. She wasted no time getting past Kiki Bertens in her match.
Swiatek, an 18-year-old, looking to make her first ever quarterfinal at a Grand Slam as well, took a set to love lead by winning the tie-breaker 7-4. However, Kontaveit used her experience to level the match at a set apiece by winning it 7-5 in a match of fluctuating fortunes.
In the final set, Kontaveit broke Swiatek in her first service game and raced off to a 5-1 lead at one stage. However, the Polish teenager fought back by breaking back twice and levelling the set off at 5-5. At this stage, Kontaveit looked like she was struggling to make returns and momentum looked to have shifted in the favour of Swiatek.
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Fortunately for the Estonian she managed to hold on to her serve and then broke the Pole, winning the match on her first match-point to complete a hard-fought win. She will now take on Simona Halep, who overcame Elise Mertens in straight sets to make the quarterfinal.
In another fourth round match of the day, Muguruza looked to have captured some of her old form as she rushed past the ninth seeded Bertens. Muguruza won in straight sets to march into the quarterfinals, scooping the last-eight spot with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Bertens.
Muguruza, with a first serve percentage of 70, won 88% of her points on the first serve as Bertens failed to find any kind of a rhythm against the Spaniard. There wasn’t much of a difference between the two in terms of their winners and unforced errors – Muguruza had two more of the former and the same of the latter – but it was her better serving that made the difference.
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The Spaniard acknowledged in the post-match interview she hadn’t been feeling too well coming into the Australian Open but has improved over the last few days thanks to the effort of her team. Incidentally, since winning the 2017 Wimbledon, this is just the second time Muguruza has reached the quarterfinal at a Grand Slam, having gotten to the 2018 French Open semifinals.
And Muguruza, a former Wimbledon champion, could take on another Wimbledon winner in her quarterfinal as she faces the winner of the 17th seeded Angelique Kerber and 30th seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
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