Australian Open lookahead: Djokovic and 2 US first-timers

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — There couldn’t be more contrasting men’s quarterfinals at the Australian Open. Novak Djokovic is still on track for his 10th title at Melbourne Park and now faces No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev. The Russian is 0-6 in Grand Slam quarterfinals. The other men’s match Wednesday features a pair of unseeded 20-something Americans: Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul. Neither has ever been this far at a major tournament and their matchup will be the first Slam quarterfinal between two U.S. men since 2007. There is also a fresh face among the women: Magda Linette is playing in her first quarterfinal in 30 Grand Slam appearances. She faces Karolina Pliskova. The other quarterfinalists are appearing for the first time in the last eight at Melbourne Park: No. 5 Aryna Sabalenka and unseeded Donna Vekic.