Australian Open: Medvedev extends winning streak as Barty, Vekic advance

WORLD No.4 Daniil Medvedev had to dig deep in his Australian Open men’s singles third-round match against Filip Krajinovic at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday to extend his winning streak to an incredible 17 matches. 

The 6-3 6-3 4-6 3-6 6-0 win ensured the Russian returns to the Australian Open fourth round for the third straight year, where he will play Mackenzie McDonald for a place in his first quarter-finals at Melbourne Park. 

In the women’s singles, Ashleigh Barty overcame one of the tour’s most dangerous hard-court players in straight sets on Saturday to continue her charge toward winning her home Grand Slam. 

Even with no crowd behind her because of Melbourne’s lockdown and sporting strapping to her left leg once again, the world No.1 advanced to the fourth round with a 6-2 6-4 win over Ekaterina Alexandrova. 

Barty still needs four more victories to become the first Aussie to triumph at the Australian Open since Chris O’Neil in 1978, but Saturday’s performance is bound to give the Ipswich native a dose of confidence. 

Also on Saturday, good friends and quarantine training partners Karolina Pliskova and Karolina Muchova battled each other.

The 25th seed Muchova claimed the battle of the Czech Karolinas to reach the Australian Open fourth round 7-5 7-5, but not before withstanding Pliskova’s mid-match resurgence, the result of a tunnel boilover reported to the chair umpire.

It set a showdown against 18th seed Elise Mertens, while there were wins too for fifth seed Elina Svitolina, Donna Vekic, Jennifer Brady, Shelby Rogers and Jessica Pegula.

Fifth seed Elina Svitolina claimed a battle of childhood rivals in what loomed as a dangerous third-round encounter with the spritely Kazakh, Yulia Putintseva.

The Ukrainian extended her head-to-head record over the 26th seed to 6-2 after she recovered from a break down in the opening set to reel off nine-straight games.

Her 6-4 6-0 triumph came on the heels of a straight-sets win against rising American teenager Coco Gauff.

Croat Donna Vekic came within a point of joining Estonian Kaia Kanepi’s growing list of recent victims on Friday before she pulled off a gutsy three-set comeback.

An emotional Vekic survived a power-hitting onslaught to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open for the first time 5-7 7-6(2) 6-4.

Kanepi, who reached the final of the Gippsland Trophy last Sunday, led a set and 3-0 and had a match point on the No.28 seed’s serve at 6-5 in the second set, but could not close it out.

ausopen.com.