Australian Open lookahead: No. 1 Swiatek takes on Rybakina
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — LOOKAHEAD TO SUNDAY
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek takes on Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina for a place in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. Swiatek has yet to drop a set in this year’s tournament, while Rybakina beat last year’s runner-up, Danielle Collins, to reach the fourth round. Swiatek is trying to win her fourth Grand Slam title and first in Melbourne. Third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas and 15th-seeded Jannik Sinner play each other in a repeat of a quarterfinal won a year ago by Tsitsipas. Felix Auger-Aliassime plays Jiri Lehecka, and American Sebastian Korda tries to follow up his upset win over Daniil Medvedev when he plays Hubert Hurkacz.
SUNDAY’S FORECAST
Mostly cloudy. High of 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius)
SATURDAY’S KEY RESULTS
Women’s Third Round: No. 5 Aryna Sabalenka beat No. 26 Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-3; No. 12 Belinda Bencic beat Camila Giorgi 6-2, 7-5; No. 23 Zhang Shuai beat Katie Volynets 6-3, 6-2; No. 30 Karolina Pliskova beat Varvara Gracheva 6-4, 6-2.
Men’s Third Round: No. 5 Andrey Rublev beat No. 25 Dan Evans 6-4, 6-2, 6-3; No. 9 Holger Rune beat Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (5); J.J. Wolf beat Michael Mmoh 6-4, 6-1, 6-2; Tommy Paul beat Jenson Brooksby 6-1, 6-4, 6-3.
STAT OF THE DAY
200 — The third-round match between Tommy Paul and Jenson Brooksby was the 200th all-American men’s singles match in Australian Open history. Paul won it.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“He helped me with the energy” — Andrey Rublev crediting opponent Dan Evans with giving him a boost by offering him a banana to eat during their third-round match.
___
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports