Azarenka marches through to fourth round

Victoria Azarenka is showing shades of the form which took her to two Australian Open titles as the Belarusian stormed into the last-16 once again in Melbourne on Saturday.

The Czech will next face the streaking No. 14 seed Victoria Azarenka, who put down a challenge from Japan’s Naomi Osaka 6-1, 6-1. Barbora Strycova, Czech Republic, def. Garbine Muguruza (3), Spain, 6-3, 6-2.

It finished 63 62 and ended the 22-year-old’s bid to reach the last 16 for a third consecutive year in Melbourne.

The world No. 48 previously held a 2-18 record against top-five ranked players and was delighted with her stunning result.

If you’re searching for a potential women’s victor who isn’t Serena Williams, there’s a stand out candidate who, for the first time in a while, has been dealt a healthy hand.

Ivanovic led 3-0 in the final set before allowing Keys to come back to win the match. I hope you can be lucky this year.

It was not known if Murray was aware of his father-in-law’s health issues while winning a match against Joao Sousa at nearby Margaret Court Arena, although he did not wait for the usual TV interview on court after the match. His brother, Jamie Murray, was keeping track of Sears’ health, British media reported. “Like being able to adjust to how she was playing”.

The players themselves have been just as entertaining as the tennis.

“Well, clearly not my best, for sure”, Muguruza said.

She struggled with depression during 2014 when a combination of injuries and personal problems took their toll, while a tough upbringing in Minsk left her sometimes struggling for her next meal in her earlier days.

Muguruza misfired frequently on her groundstrokes, finishing with 32 unforced errors, and looked a bit listless throughout the match, eventually losing 6-3 6-2.

Muguruza’s flop pits her alongside second seed Simona Halep, sixth seed Petra Kvitova and eighth seed Venus Williams as top 10 players who have failed to make the tournament’s second week.

“It’s not easy against Garbine, because she plays fast and also very deep”, Strycova said.

“The first challenge was getting healthy and then trying to just enjoy”, she said.

Also through to the fourth round is Australian-born Johanna Konta, who proved far too good for Czech Denisa Allertova in a 6-2 6-2 victory. Her next match is against 2015 semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova, who had a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 9 Karolina Pliskova.

Federer became the first man to win 300 Grand Slam singles matches when he beat Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the third round on Friday (Australia time).

“Today, before I stepped out on court it was a hard day back home”, the 25-year-old Canadian told the crowd. “This just gives me extra motivation”. “Today’s victory was for that community, and a quick recovery and all of Canada, and I’m sure the world is behind you”.

French Open victor Stan Wawrinka brought up his 400th tour win beating Lukas Rosol 6-2 6-3 7-6 (7/3).