Rafael Nadal stayed on course for a record 21st Grand Slam title at a fan-free Australian Open Saturday as Ashleigh Barty gave locked-down Melbourne something to cheer.
As Victoria state went into a snap, five-day lockdown to curb a coronavirus outbreak, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev all reached the last 16 at an eerily empty Melbourne Park.
But world No 1 Novak Djokovic, the defending champion and holder of a record eight Australian Open titles, faced a race to be fit for his third-round clash Sunday.
The Serb, who said he tore an abdominal muscle during Friday's five-set win over Taylor Fritz, skipped training and sought medical advice and treatment Saturday.
He is scheduled to play Canada's Raonic late Sunday.
The loss of Djokovic, 33, would be another blow for the tournament, reducing the men's “Big Three” to just one - Nadal - with Roger Federer already sidelined by injury.
The players will enter a biosecure "bubble" from Saturday morning similar to ones that have operated at tournaments around the world for much of the last 12 months
Posted by Sports Tribune on Thursday, 11 February 2021
Nadal, who has his own injury concerns with a stiff lower back, faced down his toughest test so far with a 7-5, 6-2, 7-5 win over British fellow leftie Cameron Norrie.
Nadal, 34, will next play colorful Italian Fabio Fognini, who dismissed Australia's Alex de Minaur in straight sets.
Barty, the women's top seed, also said it was "very strange" to play behind closed doors, a day after more than 22,000 fans visited Melbourne Park.
Barty's straightforward 6-2, 6-4 win over Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova put her into the fourth round without dropping a set as she bids to become the first Australian winner since Chris O'Neil in 1978.
Players were ordered into a biosecure "bubble" during the lockdown, just the latest coronavirus disruption for a tournament that was pushed back three weeks to allow for quarantines.
The Australian Open, the biggest international sports event so far this year, is seen as a test case for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which are scheduled to start in July after a year's delay.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic admitted his Australian Open might be over after an injury-hit win Friday as fans were kicked out ahead of a state-wide coronavirus lockdown.
Posted by Sports Tribune on Friday, 12 February 2021
As play unfolded in the empty arenas, former world No 1 Karolina Pliskova had a racquet-smashing tantrum en route to a 7-5, 7-5 defeat by fellow Czech Karolina Muchova.
Ukrainian fifth seed Elina Svitolina beat Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 6-0, and Russia's men's fourth seed Medvedev overcame buttock pain and a mid-match lapse in his 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-0 win over Filip Krajinovic of Serbia.
Greek world No 6 Tsitsipas prevailed 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 over Mikael Ymer.
Tsitsipas beat Ymer in a silent John Cain Arena - which had been packed with thousands of noisy fans late Friday for Australian player Nick Kyrgios's defeat by Dominic Thiem.
In the same venue, Matteo Berrettini beat Russian seed Karen Khachanov 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5) to set up a meeting with Tsitsipas.
Elsewhere Russia's Rublev ended Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez's record 75th consecutive Grand Slam to set up a meeting with Norway's Casper Ruud.
