ALL the top 10 seeds in the women’s side of the draw moved through to the third round of action, with some potential fourth round matchups between past and potential future Grand Slam winners still a chance.

Swiss star, Belinda Bencic strolled into the third round with a straight sets win over Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko. Both players are ones to watch over the next decade on the WTA Tour, but on this occasion it was the sixth seed who made her way through to the Round of 32 courtesy of a 7-5 7-5 victory. It took an hour and 41 minutes, but Bencic was ruthless, breaking seven times from eight opportunities and hit 16 winners throughout. She weathered the barrage of winners from Ostapenko (36), and managed to take advantage of the 22-year-old’s serve games, winning 42 per cent of her receiving points.

Joining Bencic in the third round was 28th seed Estonian, Anett Kontaveit who had to win in three sets against a determined Sara Sorribes Tormo. The Estonian won 6-2 4-6 6-1, in a game which statistically should have been won a lot easier. Kontaveit hit a mind-boggling 43 aces to just four, and dominated all the serving statistics. Sorribes Tormo won four breaks for the match, and a crucial one in the second set to ensure a deciding set, though was blown away either side of the middle contest.

Earlier in the day, 19th seed Croatian Donna Vekic moved through to the third round, her best ever result at Melbourne Park after seven-straight first and second round exits. Her next opponent is Poland’s Iga Swiatek who ended Carla Suarez Navarro‘s Australian Open career, with the 2020 retiree in her last Grand Slam Down Under. Swiatek won 6-3 7-5 to move through to the Round of 32, serving eight aces and hitting 33 winners to control play, while winning 45 per cent of her receiving points. Suarez Navarro knows how to reach the second week of the Open, but her solid career ended with the straight sets loss.

[6] B. Bencic (SUI) defeated J. Ostapenko (LAT) 7-5 7-5
[28] A. Kontaveit (EST) defeated S. Sorribes Tormo (ESP) 6-2 4-6 6-1
[19] D. Vekic (CRO) defeated A. Cornet (FRA) 6-4 6-2
I. Swiatek (POL) defeated C. Suarez Navarro (ESP) 6-3 7-5

Belgium’s 16th seed Elise Mertens bulldozed her way to the third round with a 6-4 6-0 victory over Great Britain’s Heather Watson. It was a statement win for Mertens against an opponent who had been in good recent form this year, but was no match for the clever Mertens. The Belgian hit 17 winners and only 11 unforced errors as she broke six times to one, and nullified her opponents’ serve with 60 per cent of the receiving points. It was so one-sided that Watson only won a total of 26 points for the match, including eight in the second set.

Mertens now takes on American Catherine Bellis who bundled out 20th seed, Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. The straight sets win took 83 minutes as Bellis broke three times to one in a performance that did enough to move through to the Round of 32. She won 70 per cent of her first serve points and was more conservative with her shots, hitting 12 winners and 18 unforced errors, while Muchova recorded 24 and 31. The 20th seed dominated at the net with a 75 per cent success rate, but only won 35 per cent of points off her second serve which proved costly.

Just as impressive in victory was fourth seed Romanian, Simona Halep who ran out a 6-2 6-4 winner over Great Britain’s Heather Dart. The experienced Grand Slam winner was too strong for the 23-year-old qualifier, winning 6-2 6-4 in an hour and 17 minutes. Halep only hit the 14 winners but had 11 less unforced errors (23-34) and won 47 per cent of her receiving points. The fourth seed is one of the tournament favourites for good reason and now she takes on Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva.

Putintseva defeated in-form 26th American seed, Danielle Collins 6-4 2-6 7-5 in a tight contest, with the world number 38 winning in two hours and 36 minutes. A crucial break in the eleventh game of the deciding set was the difference, having just been broken herself. The 25-year-old was consistent in her win, with just 19 winners but only 18 unforced errors compared to 48 and 57 from the hard-hitting American. Both players broke four times, but struggled with their second serve, and in fact it was Collins who impressed more on her serve, winning 75 per cent of her first serves, but Putintseva won two thirds of Collins’ second serves in a convincing win to book a Round of 32 spot.

[16] E. Mertens (BEL) defeated H. Watson (GBR) 6-3 6-0
C. Bellis (USA) defeated [20] K. Muchova (CZE) 6-4 6-4
Y. Putintseva (KAZ) defeated [26] D. Collins (USA) 6-4 2-6 7-5
[4] S. Halep (ROU) defeated [Q] H. Dart (GBR) 6-2 6-4

Grand Slam winner, Garbine Muguruza kept her Australian Open title dream alive with a three-set win over Australian number two, Ajla Tomljanovic. She won 6-3 3-6 6-3 in a two-hour and 21-minute battle that saw momentum see-saw at different points in the match. Both players had their fair share of breaks with Muguruza slightly ahead (four to three). The Spaniard was stronger at the net with an 86 per cent success rate, and also hit 34 winners to 24, while winning 70 per cent of her first serve points to set up a ripping third round clash with fifth seed, Elina Svitolina.

The Ukrainian won against American Lauren Davis in straight sets as expected, but Davis threw up a huge challenge in the second, only narrowly going down 8-6 in the tiebreaker. She forced the second set tiebreaker after being 6-2 6-5 down, but broke her top five opponent, and saved a match point with a nice winner, but Svitolina would take her second chance not long after to win 6-2 7-6. Throughout the match the Ukrainian served nine aces and hit 31 winners, successfully negotiating the net points with a 74 per cent success rate. She now faces Muguruza with the hope of improving her second serve, winning just eight from a possible 20 points from it in the Round 2 match.

Ninth seed Kiki Bertens overcame a second set challenge from Australian wildcard, Arina Rodionova to win her way through to the next round, 6-3 7-5. The Dutch star was crucial on her return games, winning 49 per cent of her receiving points, as she hit 25 winners to her opponents’ eight. Rodionova broke three times, but Bertens managed to double that, winning a crucial break in the final game of the match to avoid going to a second set tiebreaker.

The next opponent for Bertens is Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas who continued her superb run at the Open with a three-set win over Russian youngster, Anna Blinkova. Diyas lost the first set but came back to post a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory in two hours and 13 minutes. She hit nine less winners (27-36) but had 16 less unforced errors (37-53). She broke a massive nine times, but will want to be stronger on her serve, only winning 54 and 35 per cent of her first and second serve points which will be an area of improvement against the world number 10.

[5] E. Svitolina (UKR) defeated L. Davis (USA) 6-2 7-6
G. Muguruza (ESP) defeated A. Tomljanovic (AUS) 6-3 3-6 6-3
Z. Diyas (KAZ) defeated A. Blinkova (RUS) 4-6 6-3 6-4
[9] K. Bertens defeated [WC] A. Rodionova (AUS) 6-3 7-5

One of the tournament title contenders breezed through to the Round of 32, with second seed Karolina Pliskova dismissing German Laura Siegemund in straight sets. The 6-3 6-3 triumph on Rod Laver Arena took just an hour and 26 minutes as she hit 22 winners to 20, but had nine less unforced errors in the match. She was stronger on-serve with 66 and 65 per cent winning success on her first and second serves compared to Siegemund’s 56 and 44 per cent respectively.

Pliskova now faces 30th seed Russian, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who defeated American, Taylor Townsend in two tight sets, 7-5 7-6. The Russian powered her way to a total of 45 winners and only 32 unforced errors, breaking three times but from 14 opportunities. Townsend battled to hold her serve time and time again to force the second serve tiebreaker, but was blown away in that tiebreaker, 7-1. Pavlyuchenkova was a lot stronger on her serve, still broken twice but won 70 per cent of her first serve points.

Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber rolled on in the 2020 Australian Open with a standard 6-3 6-2 victory over Priscilla Hon. The workhorse German showed a never-say-die attitude even when in front, trailing 0-40 in the final game of the match, only to come back and break to book a spot in the third round potentially only one game earlier. It should hold her in good stead for the rest of the tournament, as will her consistency with just 11 unforced errors for the match, and winning 58 per cent of her receiving points.

Italian 102nd ranked Camila Giorgi toppled Grand Slam winner, Svetlana Kuznetsova in surprisingly easy fashion, downing the Russian 6-3 6-1 in 63 minutes of play. The Italian booked her spot in the Round of 32 against another Grand Slam winner in Kerber after hitting 27 winners for only 14 unforced errors. She also won 50 per cent of the receiving points and dropped just 14 points on-serve. Broken once, she managed to break the veteran five times during the course of the match and was prolific when approaching the net for an 80 per cent success rate.

C. Giorgi (ITA) defeated S. Kuznetsova (RUS) 6-3 6-1
[17] A. Kerber (GER) defeated [WC] P. Hon (AUS) 6-3 6-2
[30] A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) defeated T. Townsend (USA) 7-5 7-6
[2] K. Pliskova (CZE) defeated L. Siegemund (GER) 6-3 6-3