Quick Served: Australian Open Day 8
A youthquake hits Melbourne and Djokovic gets lucky
Week 1 is in the books and we’re all sleep-deprived but powering through, just like Iva Jovic and Learner Tien, who routed into their first major quarterfinals yesterday.
In this episode, Andy, Producer Mike and Techy Sean break down the growing tremors of a new youthquake, Novak Djokovic nearly hitting a ballkid in the last round and whether straight-set routs are going to continue.
Served correspondent Liza West signed off from Melbourne last night. Continue to follow us on social for updates and takes. You can keep tabs on Liza’s fingernail recovery on her own Instagram.
Bracket Busters
Andy’s bracket says intact even after two upsets and a withdrawal last night.
Elena Svitolina [12] def. Mirra Andreeva [8] 6-2, 6-4
Learner Tien [25] def. Daniil Medvedev [14] 6-4, 6-0, 6-3
Jakub Mensik [16] withdrew with an ab injury, sending Novak Djokovic [4] into his record 65th Slam quarterfinal the easy way
Medvedev’s loss all but tanks JW’s bracket—he had Meddy in the finals. (Sneaky stat: Meddy went 450 sets without being bageled at a major until last night.)
Techy Sean’s bracket also took a hit when Victoria Mboko [14] lost to Aryna Sabalenka [1] 6-1, 7-6. The Canadian reversed an early steamroll by forcing a second-set tiebreak, but Sabalenka’s pretty good at Slam tiebreaks, winning now 20 in a row, an Open Era record.
Bpetty31 pulled into the bracket’s overall lead last night, but the points increase with each round, so it’s still anyone’s game (except JW’s or Techy Sean’s).
Who Cruised
Coco Gauff [3] dropped a set to Karolina Muchova [19] for the first time in five meetings before winning in three sets, and ahem—every time Gauff has beaten Muchova in a tournament, she has gone on to win the title.
Iva Jovic looked more like Iga Jovic in her win over Yulia Putintseva, dropping a bagel and a breadstick, 6-0, 6-1. Andy has been singing Jovic’s praises for awhile. He previews the next match versus Sabalenka in this episode.
Carlos Alcaraz [1] beat Tommy Paul [19] in straight sets, Alexander Zverev [3] eased past Francisco Cerundolo [19] and Alex de Minaur [6] dialed in his return to break Alexander Bublik [10] six times in his three-set win. De Minaur won the final two sets in under an hour.
Zverev’s challenge of getting past Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner reminds Andy of something Pete Sampras did very well—and he himself could have done better.
Perfect Delivery
Usually when fans watch a player practice, they get a little wave afterward and autographs. Not with Mirra Andreeva. The 19-year-old has a knack for engaging the fans. After her practice yesterday, she grabbed the umpire’s microphone.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you’re doing well. I just wanted to say I hope you can stay for my match tonight and support me. Okay. Bye.” —Mirra Andreeva before her fourth-round match
If this isn’t the Slam where the teens break through, it’s coming soon. In today’s episode, Andy talks about the star power of the youth movement we feel rumbling in.
20
Learner Tien’s age when reaching his first Slam quarterfinal, the youngest American to do so since Andy Roddick in 2001
A lot of fans learned Learner Tien’s name exactly a year ago, when the ATP rookie beat Daniil Medvedev in five sets and won another match to make the fourth round at 19. His projected rematch with Medvedev this year was circled in red when the draw came out, and Tien did it again—this time going a round farther to the quarterfinals.
Good Company
Tien joined an illustrious list of 10 American men to reach a major quarterfinal before age 21.
Michael Chang, 17, 1989 French Open
Andre Agassi, 18, 1988 French Open
John McEnroe, 18, 1977 Wimbledon
Andy Roddick, 18, 2001 Australian Open
Jimmy Connors, 19, 1971 US Open
Pete Sampras, 19, 1990 US Open
Jimmy Arias, 19, 1983 French Open
Jim Courier, 20, 1991 French Open
Brad Gilbert, 20, 1982 French Open
Ben Shelton, 20, 2023 US Open
Chang Gang
One name on the list jumps out—Michael Chang, the youngest man ever to win a Grand Slam, at age 17, the same tournament where he made his first major quarterfinal. Chang began coaching Tien in July.
Peculiar parallel: Both Chang and Tien won their first ATP Tour title at the end of their rookie seasons. Tien won Metz in November 2025, then followed it up by winning the ATP Next Gen Finals two weeks after he turned 20 in December.
Top Tien
Another reason for the Tien hype—he went 5–3 against Top 10 players last year.
Daniil Medvedev, Australian Open
Alexander Zverev, Acapulco
Ben Shelton, Mallorca
Andrey Rublev, Washington, D.C.
Lorenzo Musetti, Beijing (retirement)
🍿 Day 9 Matches
Iga Swiatek [2] vs. Maddison Inglis [Q]
Jannik Sinner [2] vs. Luciano Darderi [22]
Amanda Anisimova [4] vs Wang Xinyu
Elena Rybakina [5] vs. Elise Mertens [21]
Lorenzo Musetti [5] vs. Taylor Fritz [9]
Jessica Pegula [6] vs. Madison Keys [9]
Ben Shelton [8] vs. Casper Ruud [12]
Hsieh Su-Wei/Jelena Ostapenko [3] vs. Sofia Kenin/Laura Siegemund [13]
Guo Hanyu/Kristina Mladenovic [16] vs. Kimberly Birrell/Talia Gibson [WC]
Anna Danilina/JJ Tracy vs. Leylah Fernandez/Nick Kyrgios [WC]
🗨️ Join us in the Substack chat at the start of the day session!
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Re: The Youthquake … it’s always interesting how quickly the hype machine comes for the next pack. Andreeva, Jovik, and Mboko are soooo young still! And they are falling (Jovik not yet of course) to seasoned players, but just other younger players. Svitolina and Sabalenka are like “Not today!” I love it when late bloomers clap back … not against the youths, but about the hype machine.