Top 10 players Elena Rybakina, Emma Navarro and Daria Kasatkina moved into the third round of the Australian Open on Thursday, joining No.2 seed Iga Swiatek as highly-seeded winners on Day 5 Down Under.
No.8 seed Navarro had the most difficult afternoon of those players. The American twice battled back from a break down in the third set before overcoming powerful left-hander Wang Xiyu of China 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in 2 hours and 11 minutes.
After getting through two challenging three-setters in her first two rounds, Navarro will now face former World No.2 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in Round 3. Jabeur got past Camila Osorio of Colombia 7-5, 6-3 on Thursday.
Jabeur won their only previous match 6-3, 6-2 on the clay court.
In another early afternoon match, No.9 seed Kasatkina eased into the third round with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Wang Yafan of China. Kasatkina took 1 hour and 18 minutes to defeat World No.64 Wang.
Kasatkina will take on No.24 seed Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in the third round. Putintseva, currently ranked at a career-high World No.23, cruised past former Australian Open quarterfinalist Zhang Shuai 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday.
Kasatkina leads their head-to-head 2-1, including a hard-court win at the end of last year en route to the Ningbo title.
Finally, No.6 seed Rybakina collected a 6-0, 6-3 win over 17-year-old American wild card Iva Jovic on John Cain Arena. The 2023 Australian Open finalist Rybakina needed 80 minutes to hold off the rising teenager and earn the 50th Grand Slam main-draw win of her career.
After defeating Junior World No.1 Emerson Jones in the first round, Rybakina needed to face Junior World No.2 Jovic in her second match. It was a routine start for Rybakina, who won the first seven games of the match.
Rybakina is now 11-1 at the Australian Open after winning the opening set. Her only Melbourne loss from a set up was when she finished runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka in the 2023 final.
Rybakina will next take on No.32 seed Dayana Yastremska, in their first pro meeting. Yastremska, who made last year’s Australian Open semifinals out of qualifying, stormed past Danka Kovinic 6-0, 6-1 on Thursday.
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