Ranked No. 93, Yastremska puts on a Grand show
MELBOURNE — Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska equaled her best Grand Slam performance Saturday by advancing to the fourth round at the Australian Open with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 win over 27th-ranked Emma Navarro.
Ranked No. 93, Yastremska will next play either 11thranked Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open winner, or two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka.
In the opener on Rod Laver Arena, Zheng Qinwen edged fellow Chinese player Wang Yafan, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (8), in a match tiebreaker to reach the fourth round in Australia for the first time. The 12th-seeded Zheng made it to the US Open quarterfinals last year.
Yastremska was coming off first-round exits in her previous seven Grand Slam appearances and hadn’t been to the second week of a major since reaching the round of 16 at Wimbledon in 2019.
“I felt pretty nervous,” said Yastremska, who hit 36 winners. “In the second set I felt a little bit of pain in my neck and thought I might have to crack it but didn’t want to do it myself.
“I told myself just don’t be too focused on your neck in the third set because it really takes my attention away. I just told myself to enjoy.”
She will next play Oceane Dodin, who beat Clara Burel, 6-2, 6-4, in a match between two French women.
Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion and a runner-up at Roland Garros the following year, lost, 6-7 (8), 6-1, 6-4, to Anna Kalinskaya in a 2hour-45-minute match on Kia Arena.
The Zheng-Wang match lasted 2:40 and preceded compatriot Shang Juncheng’s match against Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz on Rod Laver Arena. Zheng had a chance to serve for the match at 5-4 in the third but was unable to convert, and needed two match points to clinch it in the tiebreaker.
Wang eventually netted a tough backhand volley to end a 25-shot rally, the longest of the match, and the pair shook hands above the net.
“That was really difficult tiebreaker. We gave our best,” Zheng said, thanking Wang and saying it was an honor to for their match to be on the main court at Melbourne Park. “She never gives up. She always gets the ball back.
“I felt a lot of pressure in this match.”
Zheng said she was motivated by watching Li Na win the Australian Open title in 2014.
“Of course, I was sitting there in front of TV watching from the beginning to the end,” she said. “That final — I’ve watched that more than 10 times.”
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With 100 matches at the Australian Open and a record 24 titles across the four majors, Novak Djokovic is well placed to judge how he’s progressing at a Grand Slam.
And he's starting to feel better about his health and his game after winning in straight sets Friday for the first time this tournament with a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (2) victory over Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
With it, he improved to 92-8 at Melbourne Park, where he’s won the title 10 times and extended his winning streak to 31 matches.
“I played better than I did in the first two rounds, so that’s a positive change, I guess,” he said. “Starting to feel better game-wise and physically, as well. It’s positive signs.”
Only Roger Federer (117 matches, 102 wins) and Serena Williams (105 matches, 92 wins) have played more matches at the season’s first major.
Djokovic has had a virus and been dealing with a sore right wrist.
He lost sets in each of the first two rounds against 18year-old Croatian qualifier Dino Primzic and Alexei Popyrin, when he challenged a heckler to “say that to my face.”
Against Etcheverry, he didn’t even face a breakpoint.
Next up, Djokovic faces 35year-old Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, who won a five-setter for the third straight round to advance, 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4, over US Open semifinalist Ben Shelton.
Potential quarterfinalists in that section are 2023 Australian runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas, who beat Luca Van Assche, 6-3, 6-0, 6-4, and No. 12 Taylor Fritz, who held off Fabian Morozsan, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
In another night match, local hope Alex de Minaur had a 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 win over Flavio Cobolli and will next play fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev, who ousted Sebastian Korda, 6-2, 7-6 (6), 6-4.
De Minaur entered his home major on a run of wins over three top 10 players, including Djokovic in the United Cup.
Rublev, who is on a sevenmatch winning streak after winning a title in Hong Kong, was careful not to upset the home crowd when asked about his next assignment.
“For sure, it’s normal that they will support Alex,” he said. “He’s a great player and a great guy.”