Australian Open: Goffin, Serena book quarters berth; India's Paes moves into mixed doubles third round

After the shock exit of top players like Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic from the Australian Open, the competition has been thrown wide open. David Goffin, who is on a decent run in the year's first grand slam,  has reached the quarterfinals of the competition after defeating Dominic Thiem, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 6-2 on Monday.

In the women's singles Serena Williams and Johanna Konta have also reached the round of 16 after some quality performance against their respective opponents. While India's Leander Paes and his partner Martina Hingis have moved into the third round of the mixed doubles contest. 

Nadal vs Federer final possible

The match between Goffin and Thiem was always expected to be a close one, and they did not disappoint with some brilliant play during the contest.

The first set was close with Thiem winning it 7-5, and the story was no different in the second set, where both the players did not give any freebies to one another. After a long and tough second set battle, Goffin held his nerve to win in the tie-break, and made it one set a piece. 

The second set win gave Goffin immense confidence as he looked in complete control of the remainder of the match. Goffin's ground strokes proved to be too much for Thiem to handle. He made Thiem run a lot, and collected some impressive points as the Austrian made 18 unforced errors, leading to a third set loss.

Thiem had to win the fourth set to take the game to the decider, but Goffin did not give much chance to the eighth seed, who lost 6-2. Despite a quality performance from Thiem in the first two sets, he could not maintain that level, which helped Goffin win the match in two hours 43 minutes.

Women's singles

Second seed Serena, who is one of the favourites to win the Australian Open, is known for her strong character and positive attitude, which was on display in the fourth round contest against Barbora Strycova. The American was tested by her opponent in the first set, but Serena composed herself to win the set 7-5.

With the first set in her bag, Serena continued her impressive form, playing some powerful strokes from the baseline to make Strycova look second best. Serena clinched the second set to clinch the match in one hour 45 minutes.

Serena might have been tested by Strycova, but Konta was never in trouble against the 30^th seed Ekaterina Makarova . The ninth seed demolished her opponent in 68 minutes, with the score reading 6-1, 6-4. It was an all-round performance from the British player, who will not have it easy in the next round as she will face Serena in the quarterfinals.

Mixed doubles

There is a great chemistry between Paes and Hingis, and they showed that in their second round match against Matt Reid and Casey Dellacqua on Monday. They were amazing from the baseline, but it was their quick reflexes at the net, which helped them cruise into the third round with a straight sets win. They emerged victorious 6-2, 6-3 in the match, which lasted for 54 minutes.