United States' Madison Keys serves to France's Caroline Garcia during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill)
United States' Madison Keys serves to France's Caroline Garcia during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill) Credit: Andy Brownbill

Melbourne, Australia — Madison Keys continued her strong run through the Australian Open draw, returning to the quarterfinals here for the first time in three years with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Caroline Garcia earlier today.

The U.S. Open finalist is yet to drop a set at Melbourne Park and is averaging a brisk 62.5 minutes on court through her first four rounds.

Coming into the match against Garcia, she had only dropped 14 games — the second fewest among the women through three rounds, just behind Angelique Kerber’s 13 games.

Keys could meet Kerber in the quarterfinals if the 21st-seeded German beats Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan.

Keys is seeded just 17th after undergoing wrist surgery and missing several months on tour last year, but she is playing pain-free again and looking increasingly confident as the tournament goes on.

In the men’s draw, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic also play for spots in the quarterfinals today. The second-seeded Federer faces Marton Fucsovics of Hungary, while the six-time champion Djokovic meets Hyeon Chung of South Korea.

Golf

Rahm Wins, Now World No. 2

La Quinta, Calif. — Jon Rahm beat Andrew Landry with a 12-foot birdie putt on the fourth hole of a playoff on Sunday in the CareerBuilder Challenge.

In fading light on the Stadium Course at PGA West, Rahm finished off Landry for his second PGA Tour title and fourth worldwide victory in a year. The 23-year-old Spaniard will jump from third to second in the world ranking behind Dustin Johnson.

Rahm overcame surprising par-5 problems in regulation to shoot 5-under 67. Landry, playing a group behind Rahm in the final threesome, forced the playoff with an 11-foot birdie putt on the water-guarded 18th for a 68. They finished at 22-under 266.

MLB Baseball

Sox Plan Netting Expansion

Boston — Boston Red Sox president Sam Kennedy said the team is planning what he calls a “dramatic” expansion of safety netting at Fenway Park.

Kennedy announced on Saturday that the netting will be extended past the dugouts on both the left field and right field lines. He says officials are still finalizing the exact dimensions.

The new netting will exceed the recommendations of Major League Baseball for safety netting from behind home plate to each dugout. Red Sox officials say one of their top priorities is fan safety.

Women’s Soccer

Americans Rout Denmark

San Diego — Mallory Pugh scored a pair of second-half goals, and the U.S. women’s national team opened the year with a 5-1 victory over Denmark on Sunday.

Alex Morgan, Julie Ertz and Crystal Dunn also scored for the top-ranked United States. The match was the first for a year that will include qualifying for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France.

The Americans are the defending champion of the sport’s premier event.

Denmark went up 1-0 in the 14th minute off Nadia Nadim’s header. It was the 23rd international goal for Nadim, who played last season for the Portland Thorns in the National Women’s Soccer League.

Morgan equalized in the 17th minute with her 81st international goal, seventh on the team’s all-time list. Ertz then scored in the 19th minute. While Ertz was playing for the U.S. women, husband Zach Ertz was playing for the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC championship game.

Pugh put the Americans up 3-1 in the 47th minute, and then scored her second in the 65th. Dunn added a goal in the 81st minute.

U.S. Soccer honored former goalkeeper Hope Solo for her 200th cap before the match. Solo appeared in 202 games for the national team, most for any goalkeeper in U.S. history. She had a record 101 shutouts and an overall average of 0.54 goals allowed.

Solo took part in three World Cups and three Olympics for the national team. But the 2016 Olympics was the last time she played for the team. She was suspended following a quarterfinal loss to Sweden and did not play for the United States in 2017.

Solo has recently declared her candidacy for U.S. Soccer President to succeed Sunil Gulati. Gulati said he would not seek another term in the wake of the U.S. men’s failure to qualify for this year’s World Cup in Russia. Solo is among eight candidates for the post.

The match capped January training camp. But the team was missing a number of regulars because of injuries.

Tobin Heath had minor ankle surgery earlier this month that was expected to keep her out for up to 12 weeks.

Heath, who also plays for the Thorns, injured her ankle in the NWSL title match between the Thorns and the North Carolina Courage in October. Portland won 1-0 for its second overall league title.

Midfielder Morgan Brian, who is playing in France with Lyon, stayed out of January camp because of nagging injuries, while defender Becky Sauerbrunn has a stress reaction in her left foot that necessitates several weeks of rest.

Additionally, Samantha Mewis (knee) and Rose Lavelle (hamstring) didn’t take part in camp.