Simona, Pliskova, Kerber, Muguruza & Bencic enter 3rd Round of AO 2020

Speed Post News Network

Patna : Reigning Wimbledon Champion and World No 3 Simona Halep, 28, Romania, second seed Karolina Pliskova, 27, Czech Republic, 2016 champion Angelique Kerber, 32, Germany, former Wimbledon and French Open Champion Garbine Muguruza, 26, Spain, and  World No 7 Belinda Bencic, 22, Switzerland, advanced to the 3rd round of Australian Open (AO) 2020 at Melbourne Park, Victoria, Australia, on January 23, 2020.

Fouth seed Simona Halep beat Qualifier Harriet Dart, 23, UK, in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena in second round. Simona won 5 break points to 2 by Dart. The Romanian won 5 games in a row in the match to 3 by Dart, who committed 3 double faults. Simona, who had also won French Open title in 2018, won 37 service points to 29 by Dart, the World No 173.

World No 2 Karolina Pliskova beat World No 72 Laura Siegemund, Germany, 6-3, 6-3 in 2nd round at Rod Laver Arena. Plikova won 4 break points to 1 by Siegemund. She won 6 games in a row to 2 by the German. Pliskova won 38 service points to 35 by Siegemund. The Czech fired 8 Aces in the match to 3 by the German. She will face 30th  seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia, in 3rd round. World No 30 Pavlyuchenkova beat World No 79 Taylor Townsend, USA, 7-5, 7-6 in 2nd round on January 23.

World No 18 Angelique Kerber, the winner of three Grand Slam titles, beat World No 139 Priscilla Hon, Australia, 6-3, 6-2 in 2nd round at Margaret Court Arena. Kerber won 7 break points to 3 by the Australian. Kerber won 4 games in a row to 2 by Hon. Both the players committed 2 double faults each.

World No 32 Garbine Muguruza beat World No 52 Ajla Tomljanovic, Australian, in three-sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in 2nd round at Rod Laver Arena. The Spaniard won 4 break point to 3 by the Australian. Three also won 5 games in a row to 3 by Tomljanovic. Muguruza will face World No 5 Elina Svitolina, Ukraine, in 3rd round on January 25. Svitolina beat World No 62 Lauren Davis, USA, 6-2, 7-6 in 2nd round at Margaret Court Arena.

Sixth seed Belinda Bencic beat 2017 French Open Champion and World No 45 Jelena Ostapenko, 22, Latvia,  7-5, 7-5 in 2nd round. Both the players served 4 Aces each in the match.  Bencic will face World No 31 Anett Kontaveit, Estonia, in 3rd round.