Australian Open 2022 Results: Sunday's Singles Bracket Winners, Scores, Stats
Rafael Nadal's path to claiming his first Australian Open title since 2009 got easier Sunday.
The sixth-seeded Spaniard advanced to the quarterfinals, while his biggest rival to his attempt to reach the championship match was eliminated.
Alexander Zverev, the No. 3 seed, was knocked out in straight sets by No. 14 Denis Shapovalov.
Zverev's loss makes Nadal the best player left in the top half of the men's singles draw. That should put the 20-time Grand Slam singles winner on a collision course to face No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in the final.
Ashleigh Barty's quest for glory on home soil continued with another straight-set victory. The No. 1 seed in the women's singles draw breezed past the unseeded Amanda Anisimova, who upset Naomi Osaka in the previous round.
Anisimova's loss did not hurt the title chances of the American women in Melbourne. Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys advanced to the final eight with victories over a pair of top-10 seeds.
The rest of the quarterfinal field will be determined by Monday's matches, which feature Medvedev, Aryna Sabalenka and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Men's Singles Results
No. 14 Denis Shapovalov def. No. 3 Alexander Zverev, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3
No. 6 Rafael Nadal def. Adrian Mannarino, 7-6 (14), 6-2, 6-2
No. 7 Matteo Berrettini def. No. 19 Pablo Carreno Busta, 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-4
No. 17 Gael Monfils def. Miomir Kecmanovic, 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3
Alexander Zverev crashed out of the Australian Open with a shocking three-set loss to Denis Shapovalov.
The German appeared to have a decent path in front of him to reach the final since Novak Djokovic is not participating and Nadal is not the best on the Australian hard court.
Zverev was knocked out before he could face Nadal because of a dreadful performance inside Margaret Court Arena. He produced just 18 winners and won only 24 percent of the receiving points off Shapovalov's serve.
The Canadian did not play the cleanest match, committing more unforced errors and double faults than Zverev.
Shapovalov earned his third Grand Slam quarterfinal berth with the victory. His furthest advancement is a semifinal spot at Wimbledon last year.
Nadal appeared that he would receive a test from unseeded Adrian Mannarino, but that threat lasted a single set.
The Spaniard prevailed in a marathon first-set tiebreaker that lasted 30 points. After that, Nadal took total control of the match and conceded just four games to Mannarino.
Nadal produced nine more aces and five more winners than his French foe, who committed 12 more unforced errors.
Nadal reached the quarterfinal round in each of the last six Australian Opens, but he has only made it past that stage twice in that span.
Gael Monfils and Matteo Berretini completed the list of quarterfinal participants from the top half of the bracket with straight-set wins.
Monfils is in the best form he has been in in quite some time. The 17th-seeded Frenchman last reached the final eight at the 2019 U.S. Open.
Berrettini, the 2021 Wimbledon runner-up, has quietly made his way through the bracket with four victories.
The seventh-seeded Italian dropped four sets in the first three rounds, but he looked much cleaner in the three-set triumph over 19th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta.
Women's Singles Results
No. 1 Ashleigh Barty def. Amanda Anisimova, 6-4, 6-3
No. 4 Barbora Krejcikova def. No. 24 Victoria Azarenka, 6-2, 6-2
Madison Keys def. No. 8 Paula Badosa, 6-3, 6-1
No. 21 Jessica Pegula def. No. 5 Maria Sakkari, 7-6 (0), 6-3
The women's singles bracket is Ash Barty's to lose.
The top-seeded Australian won her fourth straight two-set match inside Rod Laver Arena.
Anisimova won more games against Barty than any of the top seed's previous three opponents, but the American did not have another upset in her.
The New Jersey native committed 34 unforced errors, which doubled the total produced by Barty. The two-time Grand Slam winner won 45 percent of her receiving points and she was perfect on her six net points.
Barty faces another American in the quarterfinal round. Jessica Pegula knocked out No. 5 Maria Sakkari to set up that matchup.
Pegula reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal with a straight-set win over the Greek, who had not dropped a set prior to Sunday's fourth-round contest.
Pegula, the daughter of Buffalo Bills co-owner Terry Pegula, has won eight straight sets in singles after losing her first set of the tournament.
Madison Keys extended her stay as an unseeded player in the draw for one more round with yet another upset.
Keys took out No. 8 seed Paula Badosa in commanding fashion. Badosa won four games over the two-set match.
The Illinois native knocked out fellow American and No. 11 seed Sofia Kenin in the first round, and like Pegula, she has dropped a single set in the tournament.
The three-time Australian Open quarterfinalist faces No. 4 seed and reigning French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova in the next round.
Krejcikova eliminated Grand Slam champions in the last two rounds with wins over Jelena Ostapenko and Victoria Azarenka.