Seeds Madison Keys and Caroline Garcia set up an Australian Open fourth-round showdown after contrasting wins on Saturday.
Keys booked her ticket to the second week without dropping a set courtesy of a 6-3 6-4 triumph over world No.104 Ana Bogdan.
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“I feel like I’m playing well, playing pretty smart, I had to against Ana today,” 2015 semifinalist Keys said.
“I definitely felt like the match was on my racquet, but she was making a lot of balls and made me find my best tennis.”
The American 17th seed sauntered through the opener, picking off the Romanian successfully on all five forays to the net.
Keys cut a vicious backhand slice down the line, before clinching a pivotal break with a smash for 2-1 in the second set.
“At this point you know everyone is playing well,” added Keys. “You just have to keep repeating what you’re doing well, you know that you’re going to have to fight.”
However, Bogdan kept applying the pressure on return and forced Keys to fend off a series of opportunities on her serve.
A backpedalling overhead dismissed trouble at 3-2 and a deft drop shot at 4-3 illustrated the building confidence from the American.
Keys manged to fend off a trio of break points with an injection of pace off the forehand wing when serving for the match to return to the fourth round at Melbourne Park.
Meanwhile, Garcia navigated past the dangerous unseeded Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3 5-7 6-2 for a maiden fourth round spot at Melbourne Park.
Sasnovich shot to prominence with a run through qualifying into the final at Brisbane (lost to Elina Svitolina) and provided a stern test for the eighth seed.
A Garcia backhand on the stretch arrowed down the line, setting the tone for a high-quality clash on Hisense Arena.
The Belarusian was probing, but Garcia claimed a rapid 3-0 advantage. The world No.56 scooped a forehand onto the baseline to reduce the deficit, but Garcia’s versatility was too imposing to clinch the opener.
A lung-bursting rally saw Garcia retrieve two shots from the tramlines, before Sasnovich flashed a routine smash wide to relinquish serve for 2-1 to the world No.8.
That wild error appeared to reset the approach for Sasnovich, who stepped in and ramped up the aggression from the baseline.
A piercing backhand winner down the line levelled the set, whilst an ace from the 23-year-old maintained the momentum. Sasnovich rushed the Garcia groundstrokes and forced a decider.
The full-throttle hitting couldn’t quite quell the all-court prowess of Garcia, as the Frenchwoman demonstrated her ranking superiority to surge into a pulsating fourth round against Keys.
“She’s doing great so far this tournament,” reflected Garcia, after completing her trademark flight celebration. “I know it’s going to be very big hitting from both sides. I want to improve against her, I need to enjoy it and try the best I can.”
Later on Saturday, unseeded Su-Wei Hsieh completed the women’s final 16, returning to the Australian Open fourth round for the first time since 2008 courtesy of a 6-2 7-5 victory over 26th seed Agnieszka Radwanska.
"It is always hard closing out a final game like that against a great player; this is amazing for me to be back in the fourth round after 10 years," said an elated Hsieh.
Hsieh bucked the trend of players struggling to back up after a big win this week in Melbourne.
Timea Babos couldn’t replicate her stunning showing to topple CoCo Vandeweghe, while Belinda Bencic fell at the next hurdle after ousting Venus Williams in the first round.
But the No.88, who sent third seed Garbine Muguruza home on Thursday, flourished once again under the MCA lights.
The Chinese Taipei player and two-time AO semifinalist Radwanska are both renowned for their unorthodox and creative shots, but it was the underdog who converted more of her audacious attempts.
The 32-year-old carved out 11 winners to accelerate 4-1 up in a commanding first set.
Radwanska, appearing to be hampered by a left knee injury, battled valiantly and managed to recover from a break down to 5-5 in the second set.
A series of captivating rallies ensued, before a miraculous lob on the run from Hsieh earned the decisive break and passage into the last 16 to take on former world No.1 Angelique Kerber, who disposed of Maria Sharapova for the loss of just four games earlier on Saturday night.
“I will try,” quipped Hsieh, having found out the identity of her next opponent. It will certainly be a tricky test for the 2016 champion's title credentials.
