Earlier on Friday, top seed Aryna Sabalenka continued her quest to win the Australian Open title for the third time in a row by defeating Danish Clara Tosson.
The 26-year-old Belarusian did her best to achieve her 7-6 (7-5) and 6-4 victory at Rod Laver Arena, but she secured victory in two hours and six minutes to qualify for the fourth round.
Eleven players were broken in a match that saw a rapid change in momentum at Melbourne Park.
“That was a great fight,” Sabalenka said.
“She played incredible tennis. It was really difficult to play against her today.
“I'm very happy that I was able to stay in the game and honestly was able to push myself to the limit to get this win.”
Eight of the 11 breaks of serve came in the first set as both players struggled for momentum, with Towson getting his first serve of the match in the eighth game.
After breaking Sabalenka's serve for the fourth time, Tosun (22 years old) saved four set points to force a tiebreak, but the world number one took her chance in the end in the fifth opportunity to settle the first set with a powerful forehand.
The second set followed a similar pattern as Sabalenka struggled to get down a first serve but eventually broke in the ninth game, the longest in a match that saw seven ties, and then served for the winner to secure her 17th straight win in Melbourne.
Despite three difficult matches, Sabalenka qualified for the second week at Melbourne Park without losing a set and achieved her 30th win in 31 matches in the four major tournaments since the beginning of 2023.
In the next round, Sabalenka will face Polish Magdalena Fritsche or 17-year-old 14th seed Mira Andreeva.
