Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka have progressed into the fourth round of the Australian Open after their impressive wins on Friday. Top seed in the women's singles Angelique Kerber eased into the next round, while it is curtains down for 11th seed Elina Svitolina, who lost in the third round.
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For India tennis fans, it was mixed day at the Australian Open. Sania Mirza and her partner Barbora Strycova might have cruised into the third round of the women's doubles, but Rohan Bopanna and his partner Pablo Cuevas have exited from the men's doubles.
Fourth seed Sania and Barbora looked in cruise control of the match, as they demolished their opponent Samantha Stosur and Shuai Zhang in straight sets. After taking the first set, 6-1, the Indo-Czech pair was tested, but they crossed the finish line 6-4. Bopanna and Cuevas had it easy in the first set, but the Australian pair of Alex Bolt and Bradley Mousley came back strong in the next two sets to clinch the match. It was disappointing for Bopanna and Cuevas to walk out of the competition after losing to the unseeded pair, who won 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-4.
Men's singles
Murray, after the exit of Novak Djokovic, has become huge favourite to win the Australian Open. The Scot might not be thinking about the title, but his performance against 31st seed Sam Querrey showed that it will be tough to beat him in the year's first grand slam. Murray looked in complete control to beat Querrey in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.
Wawrinka might not have won in straight sets against Viktor Troicki, but he held his nerve to win the match in four sets. There were glimpses in the match, which reflected his dangerous game from the baseline. Wawrinka, after losing the first set, showed character to bounce back and come with solid performance to reach the fourth round. He emerged victorious, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(7). However, it was the clash between Jo Wilfried Tsonga and Jack Sock that was an interesting watch. It was a hard fought battle for the Frenchman, who won 7-6(4), 7-5, 6-7(8), 6-3.
Women's singles
Top seed Kerber, who was taken to three sets in her last two matches, came all guns blazing against Ktistyna Pliskova. She destroyed her in the first set, and followed that with an emphatic performance in the second to win 6-0, 6-4 . Svetlana Kuznetsova and Jelena Jankovic were involved in a thrilling encounter, which went down to the wire. Veteran Kuznetsova clinched the match in a tough three-setter, 6-4, 5-7, 9-7, with the match lasting for three hours and 36 minutes.
Svitolina was dumped out of the competition as Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova played some beautiful tennis for three sets to win the match. The Russian, after a bright start, won the first set, but fell short in the second, which led to a decider. Pavlyuchenkova eventually won her match in the third set, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
