Collins, Keys, Pegula into Australian Open quarterfinals

Three of the eight women's quarterfinalists at the year's first Grand Slam are Americans, as Danielle Collins, Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula continued their march through the draw at the Australian Open with fourth-round victories.

Keys and Pegula sealed straight-set upsets of Top 10 seeds in the last 16. On Sunday, Keys rolled to a 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 6 seed Paula Badosa of Spain, the Sydney champion, while Pegula defeated No. 5 seed Maria Sakkari, 7-6(0), 6-3, and Collins rounded out the group in the most gruelling fashion with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 19 seed Elise Mertens on Monday. All three women are through to the quarterfinals Down Under for the second time in their careers: Keys and Collins are former semifinalists in 2015 and 2019, respectively, while Pegula also reached the final eight last year. 

Up next for the trio are two more Top 10 seeds and a wily veteran. Keys will face No. 4 seed Barbora Krejcikova, the reigning French Open champion, while Pegula has a showdown with top seed and home favorite Ashleigh Barty of Australia, which will be played under the lights in Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Collins faces France's Alizé Cornet, who, at age 31, finally reached a major quarterfinal in her 63rd attempt with wins over No. 3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza and No. 15 seed Simona Halep over the course of the event so far. 

Amanda Anisimova, Maxime Cressy and Taylor Fritz were all beaten in the last 16 by Barty, No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev and No. 4 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, respectively. Cressy took a set from the reigning US Open champion, disturbing Medvedev with his unconventional serve-and-volley style in an eventual 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 7-5 defeat, while Fritz led Tsitsipas by two-sets-to-one before falling in five, 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

In doubles and mixed doubles, the U.S. is also still going strong. Shelby Rogers and Croatia's Petra Martic, plus Caroline Dolehide and Australia's Storm Sanders are two of the eight pairs through to the women's doubles quarterfinals. Rogers and Martic, unseeded, face No. 2 seeds Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan, while No. 9 seeds Dolehide and Sanders have a date with No. 1 seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic.

Rajeev Ram is also still competing in men's doubles and mixed, and is through to the quarterfinals in both disciplines. He's bidding to win his second title Down Under with Joe Salisbury, after the pair triumphed in 2020, and is also partnered with former women's doubles world No. 1 Sania Mirza of India in the mixed. Up next, he and Salisbury will face Italian former champions Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli, while he and Mirza square off against Aussie wildcards Jaimee Fourlis and Jason Kubler.

Quarterfinal action Down Under begins at 7 p.m. ET on Monday in the U.S. (Tuesday in Melbourne), with coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN+. For more from Melbourne, including complete draws, order of play and more, visit the official Australian Open website.