Nishikori reaches 4th round at Australian Open

In Australian Open, Maria Sharapova is taking on Aliaksandra Sasnovich aiming to became the first player to advance to the third round and also records her career 50th victory at the Australian Open.

Defending champion Serena Williams has won her first-round match, beating Camila Giorgi of Italy 6-4, 7-5 on Rod Laver Arena.

The No. 4 seed Radwanska beat out her rival Christina McHale in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 but former No. 1 player Caroline Wozniacki, who was the No. 16 seed at The Australian Open this year, lost her footing to Yulia Putinseva in a three set match that ended at 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-4.

Despite her vast experience, Sharapova admitted to some nerves going into the match – her first of the season.

Sharapova had lost all of seven games in four previous sets, and now she had lost that many in one set. “After treatment I got better”, Nishikori said. “He just really opened the door to my dream (and) I’m just kind of living it”.

The 18-year-old said she was not intimidated by the prospect of playing a five-times grand slam victor as she looks to reach a second quarter-final at a major by matching her breakthrough run at the 2014 U.S. Open.

Meanwhile, Serena Williams win over Su-wei Hsieh marks 14th straght year entering 3rd round at Australian Open.

“What I did in the first set wasn’t enough, so I knew I had to play much better in the second and third sets”.

Given the seesawing fortunes of this popular 28-year-old, that is some achievement, whatever the end result in this her 49th Grand Slam.

“I’m just glad to be in the fourth round; I have a great opponent on the other side and I’m going to do everything to try and win that match”.

Davis is an aggressive player who will cause Sharapova significant problems if the Russian once again struggles with her serving.

The Japanese world number 56 managed to hold serve in the fourth game but that was as good as it got with Sharapova firing 12 winners to take the set in 32 minutes.

Sharapova has not won a Grand Slam title on hard-court since she beat Ana Ivanovic to capture the 2008 Australian Open.

“I retired because I had a baby and I didn’t really think to come back”, the Ukrainian said after the match. It had been closed for Maria Sharapova’s earlier three-set win over American Lauren Davis, but it was re-opened for the start of the men’s match Friday.

After his first-round win, on the day when the BBC and BuzzFeed News published reports alleging match-fixing had gone unchecked in tennis, the No. 1-ranked Djokovic recalled when a member of his support team was approached with an offer to throw a match in Russian Federation in 2007.

But Sharapova is a strong-minded woman, and has bounced back from injury and lack of match-play many times before. At Hisense Arena, David Goffin played Dominic Thiem.