Melbourne | Rybakina, Navarro and Kasatkina march on

In early action on Day 7 of the Australian Open, 6th seed Elena Rybakina halted Dayan Yastremska’s run in the 3rd round, while 8th seed Emma Navarro got past Ons Jabeur in another 3-setter marathon and Daria Kasatkina dispatched difficult Yulia Putintseva in straight sets.

I love three sets! I love tennis so much, I can’t resist, I have to play three sets! I came out and played really well, maybe she didn’t play her best, and then she played really good four games to make it 5-4, and a really good second set… She’s tough because she wants to pull out off the disc and go either short or deep … so it’s hard to try to cover both, but I just tried to be ready for anything, put an extra ball back in play and make her play one more. Emma Navarro

Since the world no. 2, Iga Swiatek swept aside Britain’s Emma Raducanu to reach the last 17 in 70 minutes at Rod Laver Laver defeated Rybakina Yastremska, no. 32 and a semi-finalist here last year, 6-3 6-4 in 90 minutes on the Margaret Court Arena.

Rybakina overcame injury concerns mid-match after taking a medical time-out after 3 games to seek treatment for her lower back.

The Russian-born Kazakh hit less than half of Yastremska’s total unforced errors, 16 to 37, and had to come from a second-set breakdown to secure the win in straight sets, but not before the Ukrainian saved 6 match points over the last 2 games where Rybakina lands on the 7th.

Afterwards, 25-year-old Rybakina said she will need some magic if she is to go deep at Melbourne Park after struggling with her movement due to the back problem.

Asked if her back was OK, Rybakina replied: “Not really. I will see my physio and hopefully he will work some magic.

“It’s not so good because it’s (my) lower back. Hopefully we can do everything possible, but right now it’s not looking too good, to be honest.”

The Kazakh acknowledged that she had used aggressive and at times risky tennis to avoid being stuck in long rallies after suffering the injury during the match.

The 2022 Wimbledon champion had a number of physical problems last year, enduring fatigue and illness as well as back problems.

Rybakina will face either Danielle Collins or Madison Keys, who were scheduled to play later Saturday in the late night session, in the 4th round on Monday.

© Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP via Getty Images

Meanwhile, American 8th seed Emma Navarro won her 3rd consecutive 3-set meeting with a 6-4 3-6 6-4 win over Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur.

The US no. The 8-seed outlasted the 3-time Grand Slam finalist after 2 hours and 3 minutes of play at the Margaret Court Arena.

Things got complicated for Navarro in her second career match against Jabeur after she raced out to a 5-0 lead to start the match, but just like she did against Peyton Stearns and Wang Xiyu in her previous two matches, the world no. 8. overcame a third-set deficit to win and reach the last 16 for the first time in Melbourne.

“I love three sets! I love tennis so much, I can’t resist, I have to play three sets,” Navarro joked after the match after improving to 23-9 in 3-set matches since the start of 2024. “I came out to play really good, maybe she didn’t play her best, and then she played really good four games to make it 5-4, and a really good second set.

“I just wanted to hang in there, keep believing in myself and know that if I put myself in the best position to do what I want to do, maybe I would come out on top, and that was i able to do .

“She’s tough because she’ll pull the disc out and go either short or deep … so it’s hard to try and cover both, but I just tried to be ready for whatever, put an extra ball back in play and make her play one more.”

She explained that endurance was forced upon her at a young age by her father, who would drag his 4 children on arduous and long hikes and bike rides.

“We came up with a term ‘cycling and crying’ because we’d be six hours in, we’d all have tears in our eyes and just (be) exhausted trying to walk up a hill,” she recalled. “I learned a lot of toughness growing up, and that’s a lot thanks to him.”

“I’m working really hard on my fitness, on my ability to go the distance and stay in there as long as it takes.”

Later, Navarro told the media that she hopes to go deep at this year’s Australian Open.

“My obsession has always been to improve myself every day, and I’ve never been afraid to make changes to that,” she said. “What I like most about tennis is feeling that no matter how tall you are, you still have room to grow. That work ethic is a fundamental part of my success.”

The American reached her first major semi-final at Flushing Meadows in September, and has now been involved in 30 tour-level 3-setters since the start of last season, the most of any female player.

© Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Navarro wasn’t the only Top 10 player to secure a place in the last 16 during Saturday’s session, with Daria Kasatkina also advancing to Swiatek, Rybakina and the American in Round 4.

The Russian 9th seed won 13 of the last 16 matches to defeat the difficult no. 24 seed Yulia Putintseva, 7-5 6-1, after trailing 0-3 at the start of the match, with 8 of those matches coming consecutively from a 5-4 lead to the Kazakh in the first set.

Later, Kasatkina faced the media and said: “We don’t have time for anything. It was barely two weeks of vacation before I worked hard, and now, without knowing it, I’m in the second week of a Grand Slam.

“It’s impossible to celebrate achievements or enjoy what you’ve done. Whatever you do, it doesn’t matter because next week you have to compete again. That’s why tennis stinks.”

Into the Australian Open 4th round also for the first time in her career, Kasatkina will face Navarro for a quarter-final spot, while Swiatek takes on lucky loser Eva Lys of Germany, a 4-6 6-3 6-3 winner over Romanian Jaqueline Cristian, and Rybakina will face the winner of Saturday night’s All-American match between Collins, No. 10, and Keys, the 19th seed.

Also in the mix is ​​unseeded Russian Veronika Kudermetova, who upset Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, the 15th seed, 6-4 6-2, after one hour and 46 minutes at the 1573 Arena on Saturday afternoon, awaiting the winner of the ​​the other night. match between Elina Svitolina, no. 28 from Ukraine, and world no. 4, Jasmine Paolini from Italy.