THIEM, NADAL MOVE FORWARD
Monfils joins march in Melbourne
MELBOURNE, Australia -- Fifth-seeded Dominic Thiem had a much easier time in his third-round match than his second and beat Taylor Fritz 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4 to advance to the second week at Melbourne Park.
Fritz double-faulted on match point.
Two days ago the Austrian player needed five sets to beat Australian wild-card entry Alex Bolt.
It is the third time that Thiem has beaten the American at a Grand Slam tournament. He beat Fritz in four sets in the second round of the 2017 US Open and again in the third round at Flushing Meadows a year later.
Thiem will next play Gael Monfils, who earlier beat Ernests Gulbis in straight sets.
Rafael Nadal has easily advanced to the second week at the Australian Open with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 win over fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.
The top-ranked Nadal had beaten Carreno Busta in all four of their previous matches, including the quarterfinals of the 2017 French Open.
It is the 47th time that Nadal has reached the fourth round at a Grand Slam tournament, trailing only Roger Federer’s 67 and Novak Djokovic’s 50.
Nadal hasn’t dropped a set in his first three matches at Melbourne Park. He will next play either Nick Kyrgios or Karen Khachanov.
A day after upsetting defending champion Naomi Osaka in singles, 15-year-old Coco Gauff combined with Caty McNally for a win in the second round of women’s doubles at the Australian Open.
The American teenagers beat eighth-seeded pair Kveta Peschke and Demi Schuurs 6-3, 6-4.
After her win over Osaka, Gauff will play fellow American, 14th-seeded Sofia Kenin, in the fourth round.
Top-ranked Ash Barty’s doubles campaign is over, leaving her to focus on the singles. Barty and Julia Goerges lost 7-5, 6-2 to No. 2-seeded Kristina Mladenovic and Timea Babos, who won the Australian title in 2018 and were losing finalists last year.
Gael Monfils has advanced to the fourth round with a 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-3 win over qualifier Ernests Gulbis. The 33-year-old Frenchman reached the second week at Melbourne Park for the fourth time, and first since 2017.
Monfils has beaten the No. 256-ranked Gulbis all three times they have met on tour, including in the second round of the 2013 French Open.
Before coming to Melbourne, Monfils represented France at the ATP Cup. He beat Chile’s Cristian Garin in singles but lost to Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the eventual champions.