MELBOURNE: Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka was pushed to the limit in setting up an Australian Open showdown with teenager Mirra Andreeva on Friday but Naomi Osaka’s run ended with an injury retirement in round three.
Also on day six in Melbourne, Carlos Alcaraz dropped a set before surging into the last 16 and Alexander Zverev staked his claim for a first major title with a third straight-sets victory.
Novak Djokovic later steps up his quest for a record 25th Grand Slam crown.
Women’s number one Sabalenka was made to work hard behind a faltering serve before beating Denmark’s Clara Tauson in the third round on Rod Laver Arena.
Sabalenka was broken four straight times at the start of the match but found her groove to win 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 after more than two hours of attritional tennis.
“I’m just super happy that I was able to just stay in the game and I was able to push myself, honestly, to the limit to get this win,” said Sabalenka, who is chasing a rare third Melbourne title in a row.
Her win puts her into a clash against highly rated 17-year-old Andreeva, the 14th seed, who beat Poland’s 23rd seed Magdalena Frech in three sets.
Russia’s Andreeva announced her burgeoning talent by beating Sabalenka in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last year.
Two-time Melbourne champion Osaka was on a collision course with American third seed Coco Gauff in the next round.
But the former world number one needed treatment on her stomach from the trainer during the first set against Belinda Bencic and called it quits after losing the opener on a tiebreak.
Osaka, who was struggling with an abdominal injury in the build-up to the tournament and retired from the final in Auckland, was in the third round of a Slam for the first time since the birth of her daughter in 2023.
Alcaraz, who raced into the last 32 for the loss of just 12 games, suffered a wobble in the third set against Portugal’s unseeded Nuno Borges.
But the Spanish third seed, who has won four majors but never been beyond the quarter-finals in Melbourne, regained his focus to ease through 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2.
Germany’s Zverev also booked his place in the second week of the opening Grand Slam of the year with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Britain’s Jacob Fearnley.
Zverev came into Melbourne at a career-high number two ranking and has not dropped a set in three matches at the tournament.
Djokovic and Alcaraz are on track for a quarter-final clash.
Ten-time champion Djokovic must first dispose of Czech 26th seed Tomas Machac in a prime-time evening match to reach the last 16.
Jakub Mensik, the Czech teenager who shocked sixth seed Casper Ruud in round two, will make his bid to reach the second week against Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Gauff had to battle back from 5-3 down in the second set against Britain’s Jodie Burrage in round two after dropping her serve three times.
She knows she will need to improve against former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, even though she recently beat the Canadian at the United Cup, if she is to meet Bencic in the last 16.
“Obviously I did well at the United Cup. It’s a different match, different story. Anything can happen,” said Gauff, who plays in the night session on Margaret Court Arena.
In other women’s draw early action, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova swept past Germany’s Laura Siegemund, who stunned Zheng Qinwen in the second round, 6-1, 6-2.
The Russian 27th seed will face Croatian 18th seed Donna Vekic for a place in the quarter-finals.
Vekic outlasted another Russian, 12th seed Diana Shnaider, 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (3/7), 7-5 in the day’s first match on Margaret Court Arena
Seventh seed Jessica Pegula, the US Open finalist last year, takes on Serbia’s Olga Danilovic.