Osaka forced to withdraw at Australian Open, Sabalenka overcomes faltering | Australian Open

Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic advanced to the round of 16 at the Australian Open after two-time champion Naomi Osaka withdrew during Friday’s third-round match with an injury.

Bencic took the first set in a tie-break 7-6(3) before Japan’s Osaka, who had also pulled out of the Auckland final earlier this month with an abdominal injury, withdrew from the competition. Osaka led 5-2 in the opening set but showed signs of trouble with her abdomen and called in a physio during a changeover. The 27-year-old soldiered on only after treatment before finally retiring.

“I really feel for Naomi, I saw her struggle a little bit at the end of the set and obviously that’s not how you want this match to end,” Bencic said. “I thought it was a good game, so hopefully she’ll be fine soon and she can play well for the rest of the season.” Bencic will play either third seed Coco Gauff or Leylah Fernandez in the next round.

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka overcame a shaky showing to reach the fourth round as hot and windy weather tested players’ composure. The opening match at Rod Laver Arena on the sixth day of the championships was hardly vintage tennis, but Sabalenka emerged unscathed after a 7-6(5), 6-4 victory over Clara Tauson amid blazing sunshine and intermittent gusts.

“It was a great match, she played incredible tennis,” said three-time grand slam champion Sabalenka. “I was playing this game and I was like, ‘Girl, you’re really tough.’ So many times I thought ‘I’m done’ but I thought ‘keep pushing’.

Sabalenka has been far from her devastating best in the first two rounds, and against Tauson she dropped serve four times in a shaky opening set, but her opponent was just as loose as both players struggled for rhythm. “The conditions are really tough for serving, the balls are heavy and the surface is slow,” said Sabalenka, who conceded four breaks in the opening set of a match for the first time since San Diego in 2022. “It was really important to get all of those breaks back. I’m super happy that I was able to close out this match.”

The first team in the eighth game was met with a big round of applause when the world no. 42, Tauson surged ahead 5-3, but Sabalenka roared back. The top seed steadied herself on her own delivery and then pulled to 5-5 before Tauson recovered to save four set points and force a tie-break, matching the magnificent Belarusian punch for punch for the first 10 points. However, Sabalenka shifted up a gear and earned a set point with a stinging backhand winner before closing it out with a big forehand to leave Auckland champion Tauson slightly deflated after 63 minutes of toil.

The Dane gave his opponent a break early in the next set but continued to create chances and made it 4-4, only to fade after a marathon game that saw seven deuces as the momentum shifted one final time. Sabalenka held her nerve on serve to claim a 17th consecutive victory at the Australian Open and keep alive her quest to become the first woman to lift three consecutive titles there since Martina Hingis from 1997-99. Next up for Sabalenka is a meeting with Mirra Andreeva after the 17-year-old Russian moved past Magdalena Frech 6-2, 1-6, 6-2.

Olympic qualifier Donna Vekic needed three sets to beat Russian 12th seed Diana Shnaider, the Croatian 7-6(4), 6-7(3), 7-5 after nearly three hours on Margaret Court Arena, and she immediately looked out. until an ice bath. “It was tough, it was pretty hot and she played incredible tennis,” Vekic said. “In my next life I want to be a lefty (like Shnaider). I don’t know the last time I hit a lefty. Now the ice bath awaits me.”

Paula Badosa was given a test at a windy Kia Arena, at one point offering her racket to her coach in the stands and asking him to take over, before finding her focus to get past Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 4-6, 6 – 3.