ONLY three local hopefuls remain in the Australian Open women’s draw after four faced first round exits on day three of the tournament. Meanwhile, it was a strong day for United States seeds as Emma Navarro [8] and Madison Keys [19] beat compatriots to advance to the second round.

>> SCROLL to see all the day three results

Kazakh sixth seed Elena Rybakina powered past Aussie wunderkind Emerson Jones, 6-1, 6-1 yesterday, needing just 53 minutes to send the 16-year-old wildcard packing. Rybakina hit 26 winners to her opponent’s six, quickly silencing the Margaret Court Arena crowd.

The power difference was evident, with Rybakina comfortably outpacing Jones’ first serves at an average of 174kph to 148. Among those stats were 11 aces to the seeded star, while she also proved effective on the return by winning nearly 50 percent of receiving points for five successful breaks.

“I’m pretty happy with my performance. Happy with the way I served,” Rybakina said post-match. Conversely, Jones recognised the same facet of the game as a clear area for improvement having served up a half-dozen double faults.

“It was a great experience for me,” said the junior world number one after her main draw debut. “I think it’s exciting that we get to go back and work on all the things that I need to improve.”

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Things weren’t any better for the Aussies in action on day three. Olivia Gadecki was first to bow out after a swift 6-1, 6-1 defeat at the hands of Veronika Kudermetova. Qualifier Kimberly Birrell also fell quickly – 6-2, 6-2 – to German lucky loser Eva Lys, while Lulu Sun lost 6-3, 7-5 to Danka Kovinic.

The results saw just three Australian women progress to round two – Ajla Tomljanovic, Talia Gibson, and Destanee Aiava. All three are set to face seeded opponents. Speaking of, two more American seeds progressed on day three, but not without a fight for the eighth ranked Navarro.

The 23-year-old needed over three hours and as many sets to get past fellow USA representative Peyton Stearns, 6-7, 7-6, 7-5. Keys had an easier time of it against Ann Li, claiming a 6-4, 7-5 victory in 68 minutes credit to 22 winners.

Elsewhere, Emma Raducanu picked up her first win of 2025, defeating 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6, 7-6. The pair of tiebreaker sets took over two hours to complete, with the Briton one of just two players to knock off seeded opponents yesterday.

The other was Colombian Camila Osorio, who dispatched Maria Sakkari [31] in three sets. The upset win took over two-and-a-half hours, ending in a 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 scoreline. Seven other seeds escaped the first round, which is currently underway at Melbourne Park.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN WOMEN’S RESULTS: DAY THREE

E. Navarro [8] def. P. Stearns 6-7, 7-6, 7-5
V. Kudermetova def. O. Gadecki 6-1, 6-1
E. Rybakina [6] def. E. Jones [WC] 6-1, 6-1
J. Paolini [4] def. S. Wei [Q] 6-0, 6-4
D. Kasatkina [9] def. V. Tomova 6-1, 6-3
M. Keys [19] def. A. Li 6-4, 7-5
E. Lys [LL] def. K. Birrell [Q] 6-2, 6-2
K. Boulter [22] def. R. Marino 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
B. Haddad Maia [15] def. J. Riera [Q] 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
O. Jabeur def. A. Kalinina 6-3, 6-3
E. Raducanu def. E. Alexandrova [26] 7-6, 7-6
C. Osorio def. M. Sakkari [31] 6-4, 6-7, 6-4
V. Gracheva def. C. McNally 6-3, 6-4
X. Wang def. J. Grabher 6-1, 7-5
D. Kovinic def. L. Sun 6-3, 7-5
I. Jovic [WC] def. N. Parrizas Diaz 6-2, 6-1
Y. Putintseva [24] def. E. Avanesyan 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
A. Anisimova def. M. Carle 6-2, 6-3
E. Ruse [Q] def. I. Begu 6-4, 6-0
E. Andreeva def. S. Zheng 6-1, 7-6
S. Zhang [WC] def. M. Kessler 6-3, 6-4
D. Yastremska [32] def. M. Sherif 6-1, 6-4
R. Zarazua def. T. Townsend 6-7, 6-1, 6-2
Y. Wang def. A. Bondar 3-6, 6-3, 6-4