Djokovic leads the way as top seeds advance to quarterfinals

Novak Djokovic flirted with a rare "triple bagel," and Aryna Sabalenka delivered another strong performance as the defending champions advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open on Sunday.

American fourth seed Coco Gauff also breezed through her match, and despite only being on court for an hour, the U.S. Open champion demonstrated she possesses all of the tools to win a second Grand Slam title.

Jannik Sinner, the men's fourth seed, defeated a tough fourth-round opponent in three sets to bolster his title credentials, but last year's losing finalist, Stefanos Tsitsipas, was knocked out by Taylor Fritz.

In a rare daytime match, Djokovic blanked Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in the first two sets, threatening to become only the sixth player to win 6-0 6-0 6-0 in the main draw of a Grand Slam.

To the Serbian's relief, Mannarino snatched three games to save face in the third set, and Djokovic won for the 32nd time in a row at his favourite venue, 6-0, 6-0, 6-3.

"The tension was growing as the match progressed without him winning a game," Djokovic told reporters.

"Of course, it's tough for him, but also for me to be able to not think about that ... I was happy that got that out of the way ... then I focused on what I need to do to close out the match."

Djokovic will face Fritz in his 58th Grand Slam quarter-final, a record he now shares with Roger Federer, as he aims for his 25th major singles title.

The American defeated Greek seventh seed Tsitsipas 7-6(3) 5-7 6-3 6-3, but he will enter his first Australian Open quarterfinal with a record of 0-8 against Djokovic.

While Djokovic seeks his 11th Australian Open title, Sabalenka is defending a major title for the first time, and the second seed was full of confidence after defeating Amanda Anisimova 6-3 6-2.

Top seed Iga Swiatek was knocked out on Saturday, making it easier for Sabalenka to become the first woman to retain the Melbourne Park title since fellow Belarusian Victoria Azarenka in 2012-13.

"I think I feel stronger than last year," said Sabalenka, who has not dropped a set and has only lost 11 games in four matches. "So far I feel good. Hopefully I can keep it up."

Gauff, the reigning U.S. Open champion, defeated Magdalena Frech 6-1 6-2 in only 63 minutes for her ninth straight win, but she was unconcerned about being undercooked for the tournament's final rounds.

"I would love for every match to go pretty easy," said the 19-year-old American, who will next play Marta Kostyuk after the Ukrainian beat Russian Maria Timofeeva 6-2 6-1.

"At the U.S. Open, every match I won was like pretty much a dogfight. I don't know if that's the ideal way to win a slam because you have to last seven matches."

Barbora Krejcikova is the only other top ten seed remaining in the women's draw, and the Czech is certainly battle-hardened after losing the first set in three of her four matches this year.

The ninth seed battled back on Sunday to defeat 16-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva 4-6 6-3 6-2, setting up a daunting match against Sabalenka.

"I'm fighting," said Krejcikova. "I'm just trying to give my best and go for every single ball."

Sinner, tipped as a title contender after a hot finish to last season, defeated Russian Karen Khachanov 6-4 7-5 6-3 to advance to the last eight without dropping a set, but the match was tougher than the scoreline suggests.

Sinner will face Andrey Rublev next, who defeated Alex de Minaur in a five-set evening thriller on Rod Laver Arena to end Australia's interest in the singles draw.

The fifth-seeded Russian and the tenth-seeded local battled for more than four hours before Rublev won 6-4 6-7(5) 6-7(4) 6-3 6-0 to advance to the final eight for the third time.

SportsLigue