Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka disappeared from the Australian Open as early as Friday, and they were joined by two other favorites 24 hours a day later.
Czech Karolina Pliskova fought in vain against Anastasia Pavljutjenkova when the game on the main course Rod Laver arena began on Saturday. Russian Pavljutjenkova fought down the favorite in two straight tiebreak and is ready for the fourth round.
-I don't think it's all that surprising with all the bangs, not even the ones that came yesterday, or even the one I went on today. This is perfectly normal in our sport. I think I've said it two million times now, it's very open, ”Pliskova said at the press conference after the match.
For Pavljutjenkova, next awaits Angelique Kerber, who with some difficulty defeated Italian Camila Giogri in three sets. Kerber won the tournament in 2016 and of five former champions who competed in the women's singles, the German is now the only one remaining in the competition.
Sixth disappeared
Shortly after Pliskova's march from this year's first grand slam tournament, sixth-seeded Belinda Bencic also disappeared. Anett Kontaveit from Estonia became too difficult for Swiss - far too difficult. By the time Bencic made its first game of the match, Kontaveit had already won ten, in the end the numbers were written to the whole of 6-0, 6-1. The match was over in 49 minutes.
- It didn't work for me today. I tried to fight, but I couldn't. When I looked at the clock and saw that it had been half an hour, I thought I had to stay on the track for a while anyway, Bencic said at the press conference after the match.
A favorite, however, was fourth-seeded Simona Halep. The Romanian had no problem defeating Julia Putintseva in two straight sets.