MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The only women's match featuring Grand Slam singles champions in the third round at the Australian Open turned out to be an overpowering win by Iga Swiatek over Emma Raducanu on Saturday.
Swiatek won the final 11 games of the match to beat 2021 U.S. Open champion Raducanu 6-1, 6-0 and become the first player through to the fourth round.
The No. 2-ranked Swiatek, who agreed to accept a one-month suspension in a doping case late last year, has won the French Open four times and the U.S. Open in 2022. She is nearly halfway to a possible Australian title — her best result here has been a semifinal appearance in 2022, losing to eventual runner-up Danielle Collins.
"I hit a few shots and afterwards I thought, 'This is what I practice for.' From the beginning I felt like I was playing well," said Swiatek, who won 59 points and lost 29 in the match. "I felt pretty confident, so at the end I could push for even more."
Eighth-seeded Emma Navarro is also into the fourth round after beating Ons Jabeur 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Navarro has now played in 30 three-set matches at WTA level since the start of 2024, the most of any player over that span.
Navarro was joined by another American into the fourth round, 20-year-old Alex Michelsen, who beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round. On Saturday, Michelsen beat Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
"I played unbelievably, I don't really know what's going on," he said on-court after his win. "I am super happy . . . not a lot of words right now."
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
