ADELAIDE (Reuters) - Top seed
Novak Djokovic fended off an upset bid from World No 64 Quentin Halys to win 7-6 (3) 7-6 (5) on Thursday at the Adelaide International 1 in Adelaide, Australia.
Down 2-5 in the first set, Djokovic rattled off three straight wins to even the set, then won a pair of tiebreakers to advance to the quarterfinals. Halys, of France, fell to 0-12 against Top 30 opponents.
Also moving on was the No. 6 seed, Jannik Sinner of Italy, who posted a 7-6 (2), 6-4 win over home-country favorite Thanasi Kokkinakis. Sinner will meet American Sebastian Korda, who ousted Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-4.
On the women’s side, top seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia started her 2023 season with a win over Romania’s Sorana Cirstea 7-6 (3), 6-1. She advanced to the quarterfinals and will face Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine. Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania upset the No. 7 seed, Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, in straight sets.
Top seed Coco Gauff ousted fellow American Sofia Kenin 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals in Auckland, New Zealand.
Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion, beat Gauff in their only other career match. This one was played indoors because of rain, and Gauff struck nine aces and saved six of seven break points en route to victory. She also was sharper than Kenin, accumulating 14 fewer unforced errors and tallying eight more winners.
In the quarterfinals, Gauff will take on Zhu Lin of China, who came from behind to beat Venus Williams 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 in a rain-delayed match before it was moved indoors.
Slovakian qualifier Viktoria Kuzmova advanced to the next round 0-6, 7-5 after Emma Raducanu of Great Britain retired due to a left ankle injury sustained when she slipped on the court. Also moving on are No 3 seed Leylah Fernandez of Canada, No 7 seed Danka Kovinic of Montenegro and qualifier Ysaline Bonaventure of Belgium.
Botic van de Zandschulp and Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands both advanced to the semifinals in Pune, India, becoming the first Dutch pair to reach the semis of the same ATP Tour event since 2004.
The No 2 seed, van de Zandschulp, advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 win against German Maximilian Marterer. Griekspoor moved on when No 1 seed Marin Cilic, withdrew because of a knee injury.
Benjamin Bonzi of France upset Serbian Filip Krajinovic, the No 6 seed, in straight sets. No 8 seed Aslan Karatsev of Russia also moved on.