Serena, Osaka, Svitolina, Madison enter 4th round of Australian Open 2019

Speed Post News Network

Patna : Bidding for her 24th Grand Slam singles title, World No 16 in WTA rankings Serena Williams, 37, USA, sailed into the 4th round of Australian Open (AO) at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, on January 19, 2019, crushing World No 57 Dayana Yastremska, 18, Ukraine, 6-2, 6-1 in the Round of 32.

Serena, winner of 7 Australian Open singles titles the last in 2017, won 5 break points besides winning 6 games in a row to crush Yastremska in the third round. Serena’s winning percentage on both her first and second serve was much better than that of Yastremska. Serena seved 8 Aces in the match to 2 by her opponent. Serena won 60 points to 38 by her rival in the match.

World No 4 Naomi Osaka, 21, Japan, the 2018 US Open champion, beat World No 27 Hsieh Su-Wei, 33, Taiwan, in three-sets 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 in the third round to enter the Round of 16. Osaka fired 8 Aces in the match to none by Su-Wei. Osaka won 7 break points in the match to 4 by Su-Wei. Osaka won 7 games in a row in the match while Su-Wei won 6. Su-Wei though committed 6 double faults to just 1 by Osaka. Su-Wei had reached the 4th round of Australian Open in 2008 and 2018. She had also reached 4th round of Wimbledon in 2018.

World No 7 Elina Svitolina, 24, Ukraine, advanced to the 4th round defeating World No 42 Zhang Shuai, 29, China, in three-sets 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the third round. Svitolina fired 7 Aces in the match to just 1 by Shuai. Both the players committed 2 double faults each. Svitolina won 6 break points in the match to 5 by Shuai.

World No 17 Madison Keys, 23, USA, beat World No 14 Elise Mertens, 23, Belgium, 6-3, 6-2 in the 3rd round to advance to the 4th round firing 6 Aces. Keys, the 2017 US Open finalist, won 4 break points while Mertens could win just 1. Keys won 5 games in a row in the match compared to 2 by Mertens. Keys had reached semi-finals of Australian Open in 2015.