‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio
Staff writer, with AFP, MELBOURNE
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title.
Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne.
Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set up a second-round clash with Chinese duo Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei, right, and Elise Mertens of Belgium celebrate with the trophy after winning the Australian Open women’s doubles final in Melbourne on Jan. 28 last year.
Photo: AFP
In the women’s singles, second seed Swiatek raced past world No. 49 Rebecca Sramkova 6-0, 6-2, while Britain’s Raducanu reached the third round for the first time by beating Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-5.
“I felt really solid today and it was a really efficient game,” Poland’s Swiatek said.
Her victory sets up a high-profile clash against the 2021 US Open winner for a place in the round-of-16.
Poland’s Iga Swiatek returns to Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia in their Australian Open women’s singles match in Melbourne yesterday.
Photo: AFP
Raducanu, seeking to climb up the rankings after an injury-hit season last year, said she was looking forward to the challenge of playing against the five-time Grand Slam champion.
“It will be a very good match for me. It’s an opportunity to test my game, see where I’m at,” she said.
Elena Rybakina, the sixth seed and former Wimbledon champion, powered past wild-card Iva Jovic of the US in straight sets.
Emma Navarro, the eighth seed from the US, is to face Ons Jabeur after battling through three sets to beat China’s 108th-ranked Wang Xiyu.
Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio.
“Very, very tough to breathe,” she said, adding that she might not have continued if she had lost the first set.
In the men’s singles, Fritz scorched through to a third-round clash against Gael Monfils with another emphatic win and has dropped just eight games in the tournament so far.
The American fourth seed was untouchable on Margaret Court Arena, swatting aside Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 in 82 minutes.
Fritz only gave up five games to blitz past Jenson Brooksby in the first round and has spent barely three hours on court.
“Always feels great to come out and play a match like that,” said Fritz, last year’s US Open finalist and yet to drop serve in his pursuit of a first major crown. “I played well in my first round, too, so I’ll be high on confidence going into the third round.”
Australia’s main hope Alex de Minaur dismantled Tristan Boyer of the US in straight sets.
