Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece celebrates after defeating Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands in their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
MELBOURNE — American title favorites Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff had convincing third-round wins on Friday at the Australian Open.
The third-seeded Pegula, a quarterfinalist the past two years at Melbourne Park, needed 65 minutes for a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Marta Kostyuk. Seventh-seeded Gauff beat Bernarda Pera 6-3, 6-2 to reach the last 16.
Pegula raced through the first set and though Kostyuk established herself in the second set, she was always playing catch-up.
“I thought I just didn’t give away a lot of free points,” said Pegula, who will meet Barbora Krejcikova, the 2021 French Open champion, in the next round. “I was playing aggressive when I had to but also smart. Happy to be through to the next round.”
Coco Gauff of the U.S. celebrates after defeating compatriot Bernarda Pera in their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Gauff had to withstand a barrage of big hitting from Pera.
“Today was a tough match,” Gauff said. “Bernarda hit the….I can’t say that word…she hit the ball really hard, I was just trying to hang in there. I’m happy to be through to the second week.”
Top-seeded Iga Swiatek beat Cristina Bucsa, a qualifier from Spain, 6-0, 6-1 in just 55 minutes. Last year’s finalist Danielle Collins of the U.S. was beaten 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 by Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
Jessica Pegula, left, of the U.S. is congratulated by Marta Kostyuk, right, of Ukraine following their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Krejcikova was the first player to advance to the fourth round after a 6-2, 6-3 win over Anhelina Kalinina to open play Friday at Rod Laver Arena.
The 20th-seeded Czech player won the first five games of the match and dominated her Ukrainian opponent. Krejcikova has not dropped a set in three matches.
In men’s play, Stefanos Tsitsipas will take on Jannik Sinner in the fourth round.
Third-seeded Tsitsipas saved a set point in the second set but beat Tallon Griekspoor 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-3 to reach the last 16 at Melbourne Park for the third time in four years.
Sinner recovered from two sets down for the first time in his career as he beat Marton Fucsovics 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 after 3 hours, 33 minutes, winning the last 12 games.
“For sure the first two sets were very tough for me,” the 21-year-old Italian and 15th-seeded player said. “I went on court with one tactic, then I had to change a little bit, going a little more to his backhand. We made a lot of work in the off-season physically so today I was good physically in the last few sets.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece celebrates after defeating Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands in their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Tsitsipas, the highest-ranked player left in the men’s draw following the exits of top-seeded and defending champion Rafael Nadal and No. 2 Casper Ruud, was pushed hard in the second set by the 63rd-ranked Griekspoor.
The Dutch player had a set point on Tsitsipas’ serve at 6-5 in the second set but couldn’t convert it and Tsitsipas pulled away for victory.
Tsitsipas and Sinner have played five times, with the Greek player leading 4-1. The 24-year-old is a three-time Australian Open semifinalist and was the 2021 French Open runner-up to Novak Djokovic. Sinner reached the quarterfinals in Melbourne last year.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The former manager of soccer player Robert Lewandowski went on trial in Poland on Thursday for allegedly blackmailing the Barcelona striker and his wife.
FALMOUTH, MA – The police in Falmouth have identified the victim in an accident involving a car plunging into the ocean on February 20, NBC10 Boston reported.
To purchase a gift subscription, please log out of your account, and purchase the subscription with a new email ID.
On April 2, 2021, we celebrated The National Herald’s 106th Anniversary. Help us maintain our independent journalism and continue serving Hellenism worldwide.
In order to deliver a more personalized, responsive, and improved experience, we use cookies to remember information about how you use this site. By Continuing to access the website, you agree that we will store data in a cookie as outlined in our Privacy Policy.
We use cookies on our site to personalize your experience, bring you the most relevant content, show you the most useful ads, and to help report any issues with our site. You can update your preferences at any time by visiting preferences. By selecting Accept, you consent to our use of cookies. To learn more about how your data is used, visit our cookie policy.
You’re reading 1 of 3 free articles this month. Get unlimited access to The National Herald. or Log In
You’ve reached your limit of free articles for this month. Get unlimited access to the best in independent Greek journalism starting as low as $1/week.