The Australian Open’s fourth round continues on Monday with women’s second seed Iga Swiatek taking on Australian qualifier Maddison Inglis, while men’s defending champion \u200dJannik Sinner faces Italian compatriot Luciano Darderi.<\/p>\n
A third Italian will be in action as fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti<\/a> plays American ninth seed Taylor Fritz<\/a> to set up a quarter-final clash with Novak Djokovic<\/a>, \u200bwhile Jessica Pegula<\/a> and Madison Keys<\/a> meet in an all-American battle.<\/p>\n Swiatek<\/a> looking for semi-final berth<\/p>\n Home favourite Inglis<\/a> is the only qualifier still in the mix, reaching the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time \u200cafter her third-round opponent Naomi Osaka<\/a> pulled out due to injury.<\/p>\n Six-times Grand Slam winner Swiatek has been clinical in \u200cthe pursuit of her first Australian Open title, dropping only one set.<\/p>\n But 28-year-old Inglis, who went through three-hour battles in the first two rounds, will hope she can put up a better fight against Swiatek after losing in straight sets to her nearly five years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll get out there… and do everything I can to take it up \u2060to Iga on Monday. It\u2019ll be really fun,” Inglis said.<\/p>\n Italian duel for Sinner<\/a><\/p>\n Italian 22nd seed Darderi<\/a> nearly had \u200cto pull out from a TV interview due to a cramp he experienced live on air.<\/p>\n Darderi battled Karen Khachanov<\/a> \u200bfor almost three-and-a-half hours on Saturday as temperatures reached 36 degrees Celsius. Later, while appearing on the Australian Open’s Blue Zone broadcast, he suddenly grimaced and grabbed his leg in pain.<\/p>\n The 23-year-old, who has reached the fourth round of a major for the first time, faces Sinner, who also experienced cramps during his third-round clash with Eliot Spizzirri<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI struggled physically a bit today. I got lucky with the heat rule, they closed the \u200croof. I took my time, as the time passed, I felt better,” said Sinner, who is eyeing his third straight Australian Open title.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, there are going to be days where you don’t find a way… if you are in a court thinking in a negative way, most likely more negative things can come \u2060towards you. I try to stay calm even in a moment like this.\u201d<\/p>\n Injured Fritz faces Musetti challenge<\/p>\n Fifth seed Musetti is proud to be part of history, as three Italians, including Sinner and Darderi, have reached the Australian Open’s fourth round for the first time.<\/p>\n “I feel pretty proud to be part of this trio… it\u2019s my first time, so I\u2019m really, really happy,” said Musetti, who has reached the semi-finals at the French Open and Wimbledon but had never advanced to the fourth round at the Australian Open.<\/p>\n Musetti and Fritz won three times each in their previous six meetings, but the American ninth seed may be at a disadvantage after a gruelling four-set battle with Stan Wawrinka<\/a>.<\/p>\n “To be honest, today wasn\u2019t a great day for me physically,” said Fritz.<\/p>\n \u201cThe other day I was starting to feel really confident, maybe \u2060even overconfident about my knee. But right now it feels pretty bad, and it didn\u2019t feel \u200cgreat during the match either.”<\/p>\n