MELBOURNE: World number one Ash Barty and eighth seeded Serena Williams powered their way into the third round of the Australian Open.
Barty overcame high winds and a potentially tricky opponent to ease into the next round with a 6-1 6-4 victory over Polona Hercog.
After choking smoke from recent bush fires and torrential rains, players at Melbourne Park yesterday had to contend with swirling winds.
Nothing the Australian weather could throw at her was about to put Barty off her stride, however, as she continued her quest to become the first home-grown champion at the Australian Open since Chris O’Neil at Kooyong in 1978.
The French Open champion had given her compatriots a scare by losing her first set of the tournament on Monday but there was no repeat on day three of the championships as Barty raced through the first set in 24 minutes.
“The wind was a massive factor today, changed end to end dramatically,” the 24-year-old told reporters after a second success on Rod Laver Arena.
“It was important for me to get a good start, and I was able to do that.”
Serena, meanwhile, scored a 6-2 6-3 victory over Slovenian Tamara Zidansek with an erratic performance before crediting her love of dancing for helping keep training fun.
“I always dance. I’m not the best dancer, but I love dance,” Serena told reporters. “It’s nice and fun to do. It’s different. It’s better than just going to the gym every day.”
Earlier, Caroline Wozniacki refused to be rushed into retirement as the former world number one fought back from 5-1 down in the first set to beat Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska 7-5 7-5 in the second round.
Appeared
The Dane had appeared set for an early exit at Melbourne Park, the scene of her only Grand Slam triumph in 2018, but rallied to win six games in a row against the 19-year-old to take the opening set.
Wozniacki, who is hanging up her racket after the tournament, made up for her lack of firepower with her trademark defensive skills, forcing the aggressive Yastremska into a series of errors.
“I was just, like, it’s coming really fast at me. She’s not making a lot of mistakes. I’m not getting depth on the ball,” Wozniacki told reporters.
“I was trying to think what to do out there to change that, and she started making a little more unforced errors. I got a little more depth on the ball, I started serving a little bit better.
Elsewhere, teenage sensation Coco Gauff survived a three-set thriller against Sorana Cirstea to book a third-round showdown with defending champion Naomi Osaka.
The 15-year-old American has quickly become a crowd favourite in her debut appearance at the tournament and drew on that support to haul herself back into the match after going a set down, rallying for a 4-6 6-3 7-5 victory over the Romanian.
“You really made me believe,” Gauff told fans at Melbourne Arena.
Gauff, the youngest player in the draw, will next face Japan’s Osaka, who defeated her 6-3 6-0 in the third round of last year’s US Open.
That encounter ended with Osaka drawing praise for allowing an emotional Gauff to thank her home fans in a post-match interview.