Australian Open: Ashleigh Barty into Quarter-Final; Jessica Pegula Shocks Elina Svitolina
World number one Ashleigh Barty only needed 71 minutes to defeat American Shelby Rogers and move into the Australian Open quarter-finals.
Barty, who is aiming to become the first Australian to win the women’s singles since 1978, triumphed 6-3 6-4.
American Jessica Pegula produced a shock 6-3 3-6 6-3 win to knock out fifth seed Elina Svitolina.
The world number 61’s win on Rod Laver Arena took her into the last eight of a Grand Slam for the first time.
The 26-year-old will face fellow American Jennifer Brady, who beat Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-1 7-5.
“I feel good, everything feels pretty solid, so I’m just going to take that to the next match,” said Pegula.
“I’m just happy that I’m competing well, hitting well, moving well.”
Pegula had already seen off two-time winner and 12th seed Victoria Azarenka in the opening round and reached the last 16 without dropping a set.
She earned the vital break in the first set when Svitolina double faulted and the Ukrainian went a break down in the second before fighting back to level the match.
The pair traded breaks in the decider but Pegula was able to immediately wrestle back the advantage and serve out to progress.