Petra Martic celebrates 27th birthday with win
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — Petra Martic celebrated her 27th birthday with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 win over Luksika Kumkhum to advance to the fourth round at Melbourne Park.
The Croatian player will take on Elise Mertens or Alize Cornet in the final 16. Luksika had beaten Belinda Bencic in the second round after Bencic defeated Venus Williams in the first.
On Thursday, 2016 champion Angelique Kerber celebrated her 30th birthday with a second-round win over Donna Vekic.
Qualifier Denisa Allertova became the first player to advance to the fourth round of the Australian Open after defeating Magda Linette 6-1, 6-4 at Margaret Court Arena.
Allertova will next play either fourthseeded Elina Svitolina or 15-year-old Marta Kostyuk.
Melbourne Park was expected to be scorching on Friday, with temperatures reaching 42 Celsius (108 Fahrenheit) for the fifth day of the Australian Open.
While top-seeded Rafael Nadal, Nick Kyrgios and Caroline Wozniacki were among those scheduled to play their third-round matches, tournament officials were expected to keep a close eye on the rising temperatures. When play began at 11 a.m., it was already 35 C (95 F).
On Thursday, officials were criticized when play continued after the temperature reached 40 C (104 F), and several players, including Gael Monfils, complained it should have been stopped.
The tournament has an Extreme Heat Policy which goes into effect when the air temperature exceeds 40 Celsius and the wet-bulb reading, which takes into account other factors such as humidity, is more than 32.5 C (91 F).
When both those temperatures are exceeded, matches on outside courts are supposed to be suspended and the roofs closed on all three main stadiums — Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and Hisense Arena.