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Patna : Reigning Wimbledon Champion Simona Halep, 28, Romania, 2017 Wimbledon Champion Garbine Muguruza, 26, Spain, and 2018 Wimbledon Champion Angelique Kerber, 32, Germany, entered the fourth round of Australian Open (AO) 2020 at Melbourne Park, Victoria, Australia, on January 25, 2020. World No 17 Elise Mertens, 24, Belgium, and World No 30 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia, also entered the fourth round of the event on January 25.
World No 4 Simona Halep, the 2018 AO finalist, beat World No 38 Yulia Putintseva, Kazakhstan, 6-1, 6-4 in 3rd round at Rod Laver Arena to storm into 4th round winning 4 games in a row in the match. Simona won 5 break points in the match to 2 by Putintseva. She also fired 3 Aces in the match. Simona won 38 service points in the match to 24 by the Russian. Simona had won French Open title in 2018.
World No 32 Garbine Muguruza stunned World No 5 Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-2 at Rod Laver Arena to sail into the 4th round winning 4 break points in the match besides winning 5 games in a row. Muguruza, who had also won French Open title in 2016, fired 4 Aces in the match to 2 by Svitolina. The Spaniard won 33 service points to 24 by Svitolina.
World No 18 Angelique Kerber beat World No 102 Camila Giorgi, Italy, in a three-set thriller 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 at Margaret Court Arena to move into the 4th round. Kerber, winner of Australian Open, US Open, and Wimbledon titles won 5 break points to 2 by the Italian. She won 3 games in a row to 2 by Camila. The Italian fired 6 Aces in the match to 4 by the German. Camila, however, committed 11 double faults to 2 by Kerber. The German won 61 service points to 51 by the Italian.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 28, sent World No 2 Karolina Pliskova, 27, Czech Republic, packing out of the AO 2020 beating her in straight sets 7-6, 7-6 in third round at Rod Laver Arena. Both the players won 2 break points each in the match. But, Pavlyuchenkova won both the tie-breaks. Both the players also won 3 games each in a row in the match. Plikskova though won 71 service points to 63 by the Russian. Pliskova fired 6 Aces to 5 by Pavlyuchenkova. The Russian will face Angelique Kerber in 4th round on January 27, 2020.
World No 17 Elise Mertens beat CiCi Bellis, 20, USA, the World No 600, in a tough three-set contest 6-1, 6-7, 6-0 in third round at Melbourne Area to enter the 4th round. Mertens fired 12 Aces in the match to none by Bellis. She won 7 break points in the match to 1 by the American. Mertens also won 6 games in a row in the match to 3 by Bellis. She won 56 service points to 47 by the American. Mertens will face World No 4 Simona Halep in 4th round on January 27.