Kasatkina, Navarro and Rybakina all book spot in last 16

Day 7 at the Australian Open began with another three-set win for Emma Navarro. The No.8 seed made it three wins in a decider in as many matches in Melbourne by outlasting three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 inside Margaret Court Arena.

“I love three sets! I love tennis so much I can’t resist, I gotta play three sets,” Navarro joked post-match after improving to 23-9 in three-set matches since the start of 2024.

“I came out playing really well, maybe she wasn’t playing her best, and then she played a really great four games to get it to 5-4 and a really good second set,” she continued.

“I just wanted to stick in there, keep believing in myself and know that if I put myself in the best position to do what I want to do, that maybe I’d come out on top, and I was able to do that.

“She’s tough because she’ll pull out the slice and go either short or deep … so it’s tough to try to cover both, but I just tried to be ready for anything, put an extra ball back in play, and make her play one more.”

But Navarro wasn’t the only Top 10 player to seal a spot in the fourth round during Saturday’s day session. In addition to No.2 seed Iga Swiatek, No.6 seed Elena Rybakina and No.9 seed Daria Kasatkina also advanced to the last 16 with straight-set wins.

Rybakina defeated 2024 Melbourne semifinalist Dayana Yastremska, the No.32 seed, 6-3, 6-4. Rybakina overcame mid-match injury concerns — she took an off-court medical timeout after three games after having her lower back area examined — to win in an even 90 minutes, hitting less than half of Yastremska’s total of unforced errors (16 to 37). She came from a break down in the second set to seal a straight-sets win, but not before Yastremska saved six match points over the match’s final two games.

Kasatkina, meanwhile, won 13 of the last 16 games to defeat No.24 seed Yulia Putintseva 7-5, 6-1, having trailed 3-0 to start the match. Eight of those games came consecutively from a 5-4 lead for Putintseva in the first set.

Into the Australian Open fourth round for the first time in her career as well, Kasatkina will face Navarro for a quarterfinal berth, while Rybakina will face the winner of Saturday night’s all-American match between No.10 seed Danielle Collins and No.19 seed Madison Keys.