American tennis star Taylor Fritz reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the first time in his career by defeating world number 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas in a four-set match.

Australian Open 2024, Day 8: Live updates

Fritz marked his first win over a top-10 opponent with a 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Tsitsipas in a match that lasted for just over three hours.

Fritz executed an impressive 13 aces and won 86 per cent of his first-serve points (68 out of 79), propelling him to the next round. Fritz’s dominance on the court was marked by 50 winners against just 19 unforced errors.

Fritz, who is participating in the Australian Open for the eighth time, is set to face 10-time champion Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.

This milestone makes it his third time reaching the last eight in four majors, following his previous achievements in Wimbledon 2022 and the US Open 2023. Improvement in his performance is also mirrored in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, where he rose to number 9, surpassing Tsitsipas.

Speaking after his win, Fritz said he trusted his shots, while insisting that he played some of his best tennis against Tsitsipas.

“I trusted my shots a lot. I served well the whole match. It kept me in it as there were some games he was in that I could get out of with my serve. At the end when I really needed it, I turned it up a level and played some of my best tennis to finish it,” said Fritz.

KOSTYUK CRUISES TO LAST-8 STAGE

Ukrainian player Marta Kostyuk reached her first ever Grand Slam quarter-final at the Australian Open, defeating Maria Timofeeva of Russia with an authoritative 6-2, 6-1 win.

Despite a 40-minute rain delay, Kostyuk finished the match in 1 hour and 16 minutes. This successful run follows her debut at the Australian Open in 2018, and a Round of 16 finish at the 2021 Roland Garros.

Kostyuk displayed strength and strategy, converting 21 of 29 net points and saving all break points faced. Up next, she will take on world number 4 Coco Gauff in the quarter-finals.