The Australian Open moves into round three, with former and reigning champions set to take to the court as they continue their quest to capture the crown in Melbourne.
08:30 CET – Belinda Bencic’s (27) impressive start to the year shows no signs of slowing down, with the Swiss star making it through to the second week in Melbourne for the third time in her career after Naomi Osaka (27) was forced to retire after losing the opening set 6-7(3).
08:02 CET – Talented teen Mirra Andreeva (17) has progressed to the fourth round at the Australian Open for the second consecutive year after battling past Magdalena Frech (27) 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 in a topsy-turvy contest.
The Russian will face top seed Aryna Sabalenka (26) next in a blockbuster clash on Sunday.
07:48 CET – Third seed Carlos Alcaraz (21) is safely through to the second week in Melbourne after surviving a brief wobble in the third set to ultimately outclass Nuno Borges (27) 6-2, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-2.
Alexander Zverev (27) is also into the fourth round, with the German producing a superb all-round display to ease past Jacob Fearnley (23) in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
05:40 CET – The first winner of the third round on the men’s side is Tommy Paul (27), who defeated Roberto Carballes Baena (31) 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-0. After a tight first set, which was decided in a tiebreak, Paul went on to dominate. The American did not face a break point in the second or third set, while he won 81% of his points on his first serve throughout the three sets.
05:15 CET – Paula Badosa (27) gets the better of Marta Kostyuk (22) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to advance to the fourth round of the Aussie Open for just the second time. The world number 12 stepped it up in the third set, successfully saving both of the break points she faced in the set. Kostyuk had 16 double faults in the match, which did not help her cause.
04:40 CET – Donna Vekic (28) comes out on top in a back-and-forth thriller against Diana Shnaider (20) 7-6(4), 6-7(3), 7-5. In what was a largely even match, the Croat did a better job of converting break points, as she broke the 13th seed six times in nine attempts. Next for Vekic is an intriguing fourth round match against Pavlyuchenkova, who won earlier on.
03:50 CET – It was far from her best showing, but in the end, world number one Aryna Sabalenka (26) moves on. The two-time champion prevails past Clara Tauson (22) 7-6(5), 6-4. Sabalenka was made to work in this match, evidenced by the fact she was broken five times. Nevertheless, her 39 winners played a part of getting the better of her Danish opponent.
02:45 CET – We have our first winner of the day, as Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (33) gets the better of Laura Siegmund (36) 6-1, 6-2 in an hour and 33 minutes to reach the fourth round down under for the fourth time. The 27th seed was seldom broken throughout the match, breaking her opponent four times. Siegmund won just 14% of her second service points as she could not keep up the form that saw her pull off the tournament’s biggest upset so far.
23:16 CET – Ahead of the start of play in a little over an hour and a half, why don’t you check out five highlights from day five?
22:00 CET – Good evening and welcome back to the Tennis Tracker this Thursday evening, as the Australian Open third round gets underway!
Alexander Zverev (27) and Carlos Alcaraz (21), will all both in action in the early hours of Friday morning, while 10-time champion Novak Djokovic (37) faces Tomas Machac (24) in what could be a very tasty encounter.
Young starlet Jakub Mensik (19) will also be looking to continue his run in Melbourne, while French duo and good friends Arthur Fils (20) and Ugo Humbert (26) go head-to-head in what should be an excellent clash.
There are also a number of other superb match-ups, especially on the women’s side of the draw, with Coco Gauff (20) meeting Leylah Fernandez (22) and Naomi Osaka (27) meeting Belinda Bencic (27).
