Australian Open Day 5 Women Singles: Kerber, Halep advance, second seed Pliskova knocked out

Russian Pavlyuchenkova battled to a 7-6(4) 7-6(3) win over the second-seeded Czech, who joined defending champion Naomi Osaka and 23-times Grand Slam winner Serena Williams in making third-round exits.




Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova secured her first career victory in seven attempts over world number two Karolina Pliskova on Saturday as the Australian Open lost another high seed in the third round.

Russian Pavlyuchenkova battled to a 7-6(4) 7-6(3) win over the second-seeded Czech, who joined defending champion Naomi Osaka and 23-times Grand Slam winner Serena Williams in making third-round exits.

Pavlyuchenkova had a 4-1 lead in the first set and a 2-0 lead in the second before being taken to tiebreaks but won the key points to clinch victory in two hours, 25 minutes.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet. I’m still in the match and focusing on the next point,” Pavlyuchenkova said.

“I was thinking that if I take one or two games on her serve that would be amazing because she is the ace queen on the tour so that was my goal, so I was focusing on returning well.

“I also managed to hold on my serve too, so that helped.”

She will next meet three-times Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber in the fourth round after the German beat Italy’s Camila Giorgi 6-2 6-7(4) 6-3 on Margaret Court Arena.

Kerber reaches fourth round in Melbourne with win over Giorgi

Angelique Kerber moved into the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday with a 6-2 6-7(4) 6-3 win over Camila Giorgi, extending her unbeaten record against the Italian to 5-0.

The German 17th seed, who won the title in 2016, was barely troubled in the first set as the erratic Giorgi served up eight double faults and 20 unforced errors.

However, Giorgi cut out the misfires and dialled in her groundstrokes in the second set, striking a forehand winner in the tie-break to level the match.

Kerber upped her game in the third set against her 102nd-ranked opponent, breaking the Italian to go up 5-3 before serving out the victory in two hours and eight minutes.

Simona Halep sees off Yulia Putintseva in straight sets to advance

Simona Halep proved too strong for Kazakh Yulia Putintseva in their first career meeting as the Romanian fourth seed sailed through to the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 6-1 6-4 win on Saturday.

Former world number one Halep, who reached the Melbourne Park final in 2018, broke Putintseva’s serve three times in the first set and twice in the second.

Putintseva, ranked 38th in the world, broke Halep once in each set and surprised her opponent with some well-disguised drop shots, though her last attempt hit the net to end the match.

Twice Grand Slam champion Halep, 28, will next meet the winner of the third-round match between Belgian No. 16 seed Elise Mertens and American Catherine Bellis.

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