The big story: Nadal through to Australian Open quarter-finals

Rafael Nadal edged Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to enter the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Monday.

Nadal looked to be cruising at one stage after winning the first two sets without dropping his serve. Monfils, though, broke the momentum and stretched the contest into a fourth set after breaking the Spaniard for the first time on the night in the third. He kept his calm won the set on serve to frustrate Nadal.

In the fourth, Monfils seemed to be full of confidence as he again broke Nadal to take an early advantage. Nadal, though, broke right back to level things up before closing out the set to take the win and enter the last-eight.

It will be Nadal’s first appearance in a Grand Slam quarter-final since the 2015 French Open.

Other top stories

Tennis

  • Grigor Dimitrov defeated Denis Istomin to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals on Monday. The Bulgarian won 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-1 in two hours and 25 minutes. Istomin had shocked Novak Djokovic in the second round.
  • David Goffin beat Dominic Thiem to become the first Belgian man to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals. Goffin won 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-2 in two hours 44 minutes.
  • Third seed Milos Raonic progressed to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open after beating Bautista Agut 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.
  • Mirjana Lucic-Baroni made her first Grand Slam quarter-final in 18 years, sweeping past American qualifier Jennifer Brady 6-4, 6-2 at the Australian Open. The unseeded Croat last got this far at a major tournament at Wimbledon in 1999, where she lost to Steffi Graf.
  • Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic beat Australia’s Daria Gavrilova 6-3, 6-3 to enter the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
  • India’s Leander Paes and his Swiss partner Martina Hingis beat Australia’s Casey Dellacqua and Matt Reid 6-2, 6-3 on Monday to progress to the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles of the Australian Open.
  • India’s Zeel Desai moved to the girls’ singles pre-quarterfinals of the Junior Australian Open on Monday, PTI reported. The 17-year-old defeated Germany’s Jule Niemeier 6-4, 6-2 in a second-round clash.  

Cricket

  • The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the central government and sports federations asking why the recommendations of the Justice Lodha committee should not be implemented in other sporting bodies apart from cricket.
  • Indian spin duo Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have been rested for the upcoming three-match Twenty20 series against England starting from January 26, the BCCI said on Monday. Spinner Amit Mishra and all-rounder Parvez Rasool have been called in as replacements.
  • New Zealand cruised to a comfortable nine-wicket win over Bangladesh in the second Test at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Monday.
  • Sri Lanka beat South Africa by three wickets in the second T20I in Johannesburg on Sunday. The Proteas were bowled out for 113 as Sri Lanka chased the target down with three wickets to spare.  
  • Australia have recalled opening batsman Aaron Finch and decided to rest in-form David Warner in a 14-man squad for the one-day series in New Zealand starting next week.
  • David Warner has won Australian cricket’s top individual prize for the second year in a row, edging skipper Steve Smith and paceman Mitchell Starc for the Allan Border Medal.
  • Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag has been named Indian Premier League franchise Kings XI Punjab’s Head of Cricket Operations and Strategy for the upcoming season, PTI reported.

Football

  • Hull City midfielder Ryan Mason fractured his skull during Sunday’s game at Chelsea. Mason clashed heads with Chelsea defender Gary Cahill early into the game and had to be stretchered off.
  • Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has apologised for pushing fourth official Anthony Taylor during his side’s last-gasp 2-1 win against Burnley at the Emirates on Sunday. Wenger was sent to the stands after the altercation and is likely to face a ban for his actions.
  • Italian champions Juventus registered a 2-0 win over Lazio to continue their run for a sixth Serie A title.
  • Defending champions Barcelona dismantled Eibar 4-0 on Sunday. Goals from Lionel Messi, Neymar, Luis Suarez and Denis Suarez saw them cut the deficit against table toppers Real Madrid to two points.
  • India’s national football team has been drawn along side Macau, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar in Group A for Asian Cup 2019 qualifiers.

Badminton

  • Saina Nehwal will skip the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold event scheduled to begin later this week in Lucknow. “No, I am not playing as it was a tough three weeks for me after the PBL and Malaysia Open win and I am still not 100% with my knee strength. I need some more time to be fully fit physically,” Nehwal told PTI.