Australian Open 2018: Women's Day 3 Review
Day 3 saw the start of the second round matches in the Women's division. Second seed Caroline Wozniacki overcame Jana Fett in a tough three-set game 3-6, 6-2, 7-5. The Dane was down 5-1 in the third set and faced two match points against the World No. 119. She managed to save them and won the next six games to snatch the match. She will next face Kiki Bertens in the third round in what should be an exciting match.
Fourth seed Elina Svitolina advanced in three sets against Katerina Siniakova 4-6, 6-2, 6-1. French Open champion and seventh seed Jelena Ostapenko needed three sets to overcome Ying-Ying Duan 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Magdalena Rybarikova and Anett Kontaveit also came through in three sets against Kirsten Flipkens and Mona Barthel respectively.
Venus Williams conqueror, Swiss Bencic, lost in straight sets to Thai qualifier and World No. 125, Luksika Kumkhum 1-6, 3-6 in an hour and 16 minutes. Monica Puig, who put out 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur in the first round was defeated in straight sets by Kaia Kanepi. Veteran Suarez Navarro beat Timea Babos, who had knocked out CoCo Vandeweghe in the 1st Round, in 3 sets.
Alize Cornet and Kateryna Bondarenko created minor upsets. World No 38, Cornet, knocked out 12th seed Goerges 6-4, 6-3 while World No. 87, Bondarenko, beat 15th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-3. Home hope, Daria Gavrilova, was knocked out by Elise Mertens in straight sets 5-7, 3-6.
Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, at 15 years of age, became the youngest player since 1997 to reach the third round of a Grand Slam. The World No 521. beat Olivia Rogowska 6-3, 7-5 to match the then 15-year-old Mirjana Lucic-Baroni's feat in the 1997 US Open. Kostyuk, the 2017 Australian Open Girls champion, becomes the youngest to reach the third round at Melbourne since Martina Hingis in 1996. Kostyuk will next face the No. 4 seed, Svitolina.