Iga Swiatek will look to continue her march to a maiden Australian Open title on Wednesday while Jannik Sinner’s powers of recovery will be tested in a quarter-final against home hope Alex de Minaur.
World number two Swiatek has been imperious so far in Melbourne, dropping just 11 games in four matches, but now faces three-set specialist Emma Navarro.
The winner will have a last-four match-up with Madison Keys or Elina Svitolina, who open the day’s proceedings on Rod Laver Arena.
World number one Sinner had dizzy spells in the scorching heat of the afternoon during his four-set win against Holger Rune on Monday.
The defending champion has an evening match against De Minaur with temperatures forecast to drop considerably on Day 11 of the first Grand Slam of the year.
De Minaur is looking to become the first Australian man to reach the semi-finals at his home Open since Lleyton Hewitt 20 years ago.
Awaiting in the last four will be either American 21st seed Ben Shelton or the unseeded Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
Sinner struggled in the muggy conditions against Rune, his hand visibly shaking and his heart rate taken in the third set before he left court for a medical timeout.
“I was not feeling really well. You know, I think we saw that today I was struggling physically,” said Sinner, 23.
De Minaur has never beaten Sinner, losing all nine meetings, including in straight sets in the fourth round of the 2022 Australian Open.
“It’s going to be an incredibly tough match and I’m going to have to do something I haven’t done before,” said De Minaur, 25.
“But why not start here?”
Poland’s Swiatek won a scarcely believable 20 games in row over her two wins against Emma Raducanu (6-1, 6-0) and Eva Lys (6-0, 6-1) in the last two rounds, and then warned she had not hit her best.
“There’s a lot to improve. I don’t feel like I’m in my peak yet,” said Swiatek.
She is wary of American eighth seed Navarro, who has shown immense grit and stamina to come through four three-set marathons.
“I don’t know what I’m expecting,” admitted the five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek.
Svitolina, seeded 28, said she hoped to bring “a little light” to people at home in Ukraine with her Australian Open run.
She did not shake hands with Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova after her fourth-round win, as is usual with players from Ukraine because of the war.
“For me to find a way to win matches, to find a way to bring a little light, a little win for the Ukrainian people, is something that I feel I am responsible for,” she said.
Svitolina will try to shine again against the experienced Keys, the 19th seed, who reached her maiden Slam semi-final at the Australian Open in 2015.
“It’s hard to believe that it was 10 years ago, but really proud of myself,” said Keys, who made the last eight in Melbourne in 2018 and 2022.
Shelton ground down French veteran Gael Monfils to set up a quarter-final against Sonego, who ended teenage qualifier Learner Tien’s fairytale run.
