Australian Open 2021: Day 3 – Halep, Osaka, Serena, Sabalenka all move to round three even as Kvitová, Venus taste defeat

Australian Open 2021: Day 3 – Halep, Osaka, Serena, Sabalenka all move to round three even as Kvitová, Venus taste defeat
Sabalenka Serena Halep Osaka

Day 3 of the Australian Open saw a lot of action in the women’s division. The top stars Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka breezed into the third round. Aryna Sabalenka too gave a good account of herself. Simona Halep recovered to win after going a set down, but the biggest shocks were the exits of Petra Kvitova and Venus Williams. 

Halep comes back from the brink in her second round encounter 

Halep the 2nd seed at this year’s Australian open got a real scare when she was stretched to three sets by Australian Ajla Tomljanović. Tomljanović took the first set and it took all of Halep’s experience and ability to pull the match back and win the next two sets to seal victory 4-6 6-4 7-5.

Osaka shows her might

Naomi Osaka the 3rd seed at this year’s Australian Open followed up her impressive performance in the first round with another excellent one in the second. In the first round she had defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 6-2. In the second she got the better of Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia 6-2 6-3, without conceding a single service game. Osaka is definitely one to look out for in this tournament. 

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Serena Williams is showing signs of getting back to her best

10th seed Williams played a perfect percentage game in the second round of the Australian Open against Nina Stojanović. Williams raised her game when she had to, and cranked up her serve when required to seal the match 6-3 6-0. This victory follows an equally impressive victory against Laura Siegemund in the first round. In the third round, she will face Anastasia Potapova. 

Sabalenka the dark horse marches on

7th seed Sabalenka overcame a potentially tricky second round opponent in Daria Kasatkina, 7-6 6-3. Coming into the tournament Sabalenka was in red hot form. And she gave full proof of it in her 1st round encounter against Viktória Kužmová. But the match against Daria Kasatkina was where she showed patience and held her nerve when required. This match will hold her in good stead going forward. 

Petra Kvitová and Venus Williams exit 

Petra Kvitova lost to Sorana Cîrstea 4-6 6-1 1-6, and Venus tasted defeat against Sara Errani 6-1 6-0.

Other Results :

  • Ons Jabeur beat Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-3 6-2
  • Garbiñe Muguruza beat Ludmilla Samsonova 6-3 6-1
  • Hsieh Su-wei beat Bianca Andreescu 6-3 6-2
  • Fiona Ferro beat Elena Rybakina 6-4 6-4
  • Markéta Vondroušová beat Rebecca Marino 6-1 7-5

Read More: Australian Open 2021: Belinda Bencic vs Svetlana Kuznetsova – Preview, Head-to-Head and Prediction