Halep, Kerber advance in search of more titles; Pliskova, Bencic fall
MELBOURNE, Australia — Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber have held Grand Slam trophies aloft, and so have learned to keep their heads down when clusters of highly ranked players start losing in the first week of majors.
Wimbledon champion Halep and Kerber, who won her breakthrough major in Australia in 2016 and has added two Grand Slam titles since, navigated a chaotic third round at the Australian Open to reach the second week.
Secondseeded Karolina Pliskova, a semifinalist here last year, and No. 6 Belinda Bencic, a semifinalist at last year’s U.S. Open, had straightsets losses on Saturday, the day after 23time major winner Serena Williams and defending champion Naomi Osaka exited in thirdround upsets.
“Not at all. I’m not focusing on other players — just focusing on myself,” Halep said after her 61, 64 win over Yulia Putintseva on Rod Laver Arena, the match after Pliskova lost to 76 (4), 76 (3) to 30thseeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. “It doesn’t matter who is winning, who is losing, I just have to do my job when I step onto court.”
Kerber had a 62, 67 (4), 63 win over Camila Giorgi. In a later news conference, she almost laughed when asked if nervousness was contagious in the locker room when the top players start exiting.
“Every match starts from zero — doesn’t matter who against you play,“she said. “You have sometimes a little bit bad days, good days. So it’s more about caring yourself, working on your strengths and going for it. So it’s nothing about looking around.“
The lefthanded Kerber next faces Pavlyuchenkova, who was a junior champion here 12 years ago when she beat Caroline Wozniacki in the final. They’re playing for a spot in the quarterfinals, a stage Pavlyuchekova has reached five times but never surpassed at the majors.
She said she hasn’t been patient enough in the past, but is putting more value on each match now. She’d only ever taken one set off Pliskova in six previous losses, but decided to target one of the best serves in the women’s game on Rod Laver — and it worked.
Williams, who has won seven Australian titles among her 23 majors, 2018 champion Wozniacki and defending champion Osaka all lost on Friday. Wozniacki went immediately into retirement but Williams vowed to continue her pursuit of Margaret Court’s alltime record 24 majors after her loss to Wang Qiang. Osaka lost to 15yearold Coco Gauff.
Bencic, a semifinalist at the U.S. Open last September, was rolled 60, 61 in 49 minutes by 28thseeded Anett Kontaveit, who will next play Iga Swiatek, the No. 59ranked player from Poland who took out 19thseeded Donna Vekic 75, 63.
Men’s No. 1 Rafael Nadal defeated No. 27 Pablo Carreño Busta 61, 62, 64 in the afternoon match on the main court at Melbourne Park.