It was another great day for audience and tennis fans at the Melbourne Park as defending champions Roger Federer once again entered the round of 16 while Novak Djokovic eased past Ramos-Vinolas and will next face Chung Hyeon, who knocked out Alexander Zverev in a five set encounter.
The women’s section was full of more interesting clashes as five times champion was thrashed by Angelique Kerber. The biggest match however came between top seeded Simona Halep and Lauren Devis which the top seed survived.
Roger Federer
It was just for the second time in the tournament that Federer was broken when Richard Gasquet broke him in the final set but that hardly mattered as defending champion Roger Federer beat the 29th seeded French 6-2, 7-5, 6-4.
Federer looked in great form from the start of the game and wrapped the first set 6-2. The second set took longer to see drop of serves. Gasquet was broken late by Federer. However, Federer started the third set brightly. He broke Gasquet early and raced to a 3-0 lead but that joy was short lived.
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Gasquet broke the 19-time Grand Slams winner to level things at 4-4. But it was not his day. He dropped his serve when serving to stay in the match.
Novak Djokovic
Djokovic put a shaky start to the tournament behind him, dismissing the 21st seed, Albert Ramos-Viñolas for the loss of seven games in two hours and 21 minutes. He has a tougher challenge in the next round against Chung Hyeon, who became the third South Korean to reach the fourth round of a slam after he surprised everyone but himself by upsetting the fourth seed, Alexander Zverev, in five sets.
Alexander Zverev
He is a star to look out for in the year. He had won 5 titles in the year gone by but lacked something today. After fighting bravely for 4 sets he was treated to a bagel in the decider to eventually get knocked out by Hyeon Chung.
The fourth seed was knocked out of the Australian Open with a five-set defeat by world number 59 Hyeon Chung in the third round.
Zverev, 20, led by two sets to one but crumbled to a 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 2-6 6-3 6-0 loss against his 21-year-old opponent.
Chung became the first South Korean man to reach the last 16 of the Australian Open.
Angelique Kerber vs Maria Sharapova
Angelique Kerber produced a superb performance to beat Maria Sharapova and confirm herself as a title contender at the Australian Open.
The German 21st seed won 6-1 6-3 in the much-anticipated night-session clash between the only two former champions left in the draw.
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She needed just 64 minutes to see off Sharapova, breaking serve five times.
Kerber, the 2016 winner, will play Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei, ranked 88th in the world, in the fourth round.
Simona Halep
Her encounter was the least anticipated once but it proved to be the best of the day, in fact it proved to be historic.
Top-seeded Simona Halep survived a marathon third-round battle with 76th-ranked Lauren Davis on Saturday at the Australian Open, ultimately prevailing, 4-6, 6-4, 15-13, after three hours and 44 minutes.
Halep saved three match points at 10-11, and she finally served out the match on her fourth try. She had been up a break at 5-4, 6-5 and 8-7 in the third, which lasted two hours and 22 minutes.
Davis, a 24-year-old American, said she had slipped into an autopilot of sorts as the match continued into nearly uncharted scoreboard territory.
Leander Paes
Indian tennis stars Leander Paes and Purav Raja were at the net on Saturday to create the first upset in the men’s doubles at the Australian Open, overcoming fifth seeded Jamie Murray (Britain) and Bruno Soares (Brazil) 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 7-6 (8-6) in a three-hour battle on a day when the temperature here cooled down considerably to a pleasant 25 degrees.
The victory coming after the pair’s win against Nikoloz Basailashvli of Georgia and Andreas Haider-Maurer in the first round sets them up with a chance to reach the higher levels of the tournament.
Paes and Raja controlled the net with some incredible placing and interceptions which initially upset the top ranking pair. They served with precision and combined well at the net to first confuse and then volley with precision to keep the marauding Soares and Murry at bay.