British interest in singles ended in meek fashion with a straight-sets defeat for Dan Evans against ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime. Evans had won their only previous meeting on the same courts 12 months ago to claim his only ATP Tour title but a repeat never looked on the cards here from the moment he dumped a forehand volley into the net to lose the opening set. Auger-Aliassime had spent eight hours on court in his first two rounds but Evans was unable to make this an extended stay on John Cain Arena, going down 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 in just an hour and 53 minutes.
World number two Daniil Medvedev swept aside Dutch Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open and stay on track for a second successive Grand Slam title. Van de Zandschulp, ranked 57th in the world, was the only player to take a set off the Russian when the pair met in their previous meeting at last year’s US Open, which Medvedev went on to win for his first major title.
Follow for live updates and scores from day six of the Australian Open and the third round:
World number two Aryna Sabalenka showed her fighting qualities again on Saturday as the Belarusian came back from a set down to defeat Marketa Vondrousova 4-6 6-3 6-1 and move into the fourth round of the Australian Open.
Sabalenka surrendered the opening set for the third match in a row, overcoming early serving issues to pummel the Czech into submission.
“I’m really happy right now and mostly I’m happy that I made only 10 double faults,” Sabalenka said in an on-court interview.
“She played unbelievable tennis today. I pushed myself really hard and I’m really happy with this win.
“I had some trouble (with my serve), I really expect in the next match a great serve. I’ll just keep working on my serve and keep hoping it gets better with every match.”
Sabalenka’s service struggles continued on Margaret Court Arena, with the 23-year-old double faulting in the opening game to gift Vondrousova an early advantage.
She later told reporters that her serve was suffering because she was putting too much pressure on herself.
“I think it’s more mental... (in) the last matches I was trying to control everything on my serve; my legs, my arm, the ball toss. And I was overthinking. (Today) I just stopped thinking,” said Sabalenka.
While the players traded additional breaks midway through the set, Vondrousova remained resolute in the face of Sabalenka’s heavy hitting to take the opener in 38 minutes.
But the two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist found her rhythm in the second set, breaking Vondrousova’s serve in the second game with a powerful crosscourt backhand before going on to level the match.
Sabalenka was even more decisive in the decider, breaking Vondrousova on three occasions to secure the win and set up a fourth round meeting against Kaia Kanepi.
“(Kanepi) is a great player. She’s serving well. Hits pretty hard. And, yeah, it’s really interesting to play against her. I’m really looking forward to this match,” added Sabalenka.
Former world number one Simona Halep stormed into the fourth round with a 6-2 6-1 demolition of unseeded Danka Kovinic, who knocked out Emma Raducanu. Halep, a finalist at Melbourne Park four years ago, is aiming for her third major title.
“I feel good, more confident now because last year was a tough year and now I just enjoy playing tennis because I’m healthy,” said Halep.
Rising star Clara Tauson falls to Danielle Collins
American 27th seed Danielle Collins came from a set down to claim a 4-6 6-4 7-5 win over young Danish talent Clara Tauson in the third round. Up next for Collins is 19th seed Elise Mertens, who swept aside Zhang Shuai 6-2 6-2.
Alize Cornet continued her fine run with a 4-6 6-4 6-2 win over 29th seed Tamara Zidansek to advance to the fourth round. Cornet, who was 1-4 down in the second set, clinched 11 of the last 13 games to take the win. She faces 14th seed Simona Halep next.
Elsewhere today, World number two Aryna Sabalenka found her range after a poor first set to beat Olympic silver medallist Marketa Vondrousova 4-6 6-3 6-1 and progress to the fourth round.
Sabalenka, who has struggled with her serve in Melbourne, joked that she was happy she “made only 10 double-faults” against Vondrousova. The Belarusian now faces Kaia Kanepi, who overcame wildcard Maddison Inglis 2-6 6-2 6-0.
Aryna Sabalenka, left, shakes hand with Marketa Vondrousova
Felix Auger-Aliassime: ‘I deserve my fourth-round place’
Felix Auger-Aliassime, 21, on beating Britain’s Dan Evans and equalling his best run in Melbourne: “I’ve put in the work this off-season and I’ve had a great start. I feel like I’m in my place. I feel like I deserve to be here again in the fourth round.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas battles past Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-3, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4
Stefanos Tsitsipas staved off the incendiary Benoit Paire to reach the Australian Open fourth round on Saturday with a tough 6-3, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4 win but appeared not to realise the game was over after converting match point.
Paire dunked a forehand into the net on the first of three match points when serving to stay in the match, but fourth seed Tsitsipas walked to the back of the court rather than approach the net. The Greek turned around at the baseline with a look of surprise on his face, before walking forward to acknowledge Paire.
Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrates beating Benoit Paire
World number two Daniil Medvedev swept aside Dutch Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open and stay on track for a second successive Grand Slam title. Van de Zandschulp, ranked 57th in the world, was the only player to take a set off the Russian when the pair met in their previous meeting at last year’s US Open, which Medvedev went on to win for his first major title.
Evans put up a good fight in the first set and created some chances to get a real foothold in this match, but the frustrating thing was that he couldn’t take them, and his opponent did so, clinically. The second and third sets were different though and the match quickly got away from the 31-year-old Briton.
Reaching the fourth round in 2017 remains his best finish at the Australian Open, and it just wasn’t to be here up against and impressive 21-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime, who has all the hallmarks of a future champion. With Novak Djokovic absent it’s wide open: might this be his year?
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
Africana55 Radio 
