Australian Open 2026: Novak Djokovic Into Round Four
Novak Djokovic continued his impressive development at the Australian Open with a straight-sets win over Denis Istomin.
The Serb, who has actually won the past 3 titles in Melbourne, won 6-3 6-3 7-5 and plays Fabio Fognini in round 4.
Serena Williams won a tournament-record 61st songs match by beating Daniela Hantuchova 6-3 6-3 in round 3.
Ana Ivanovic, who beat Australia's Sam Stosur 6-7 (8-10) 6-4 6-2, is next for top seed Williams, while China's Li Na beat Lucie Safarova 1-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-3.
Third seed David Ferrer beat 29th seed Jeremy Chardy in straight sets and 15th-ranked Fognini saw off the challenge of Sam Querrey 7-5 6-4 6-4.
Spain's Tommy Robredo, the number 17 seed, beat France's ninth seed Richard Gasquet 2-6 7-5 6-4 7-6 (8-6).
The conditions continued to be a concern for gamers, with the temperature level reaching a high of 41.4 C a day after matches were suspended on Thursday because of 43.3 C heat,
Rod Laver Arena
S Williams (US) [1] beat Hantuchova (Svk) [31] 6-3 6-3
Five-time champ Williams was not at her best and seemed dealing with the heat, though she still showed too strong for Hantuchova.
The world top raced into a 5-3 lead but had to conserve 2 break indicate hold serve before clinching the very first set.
Williams, who has yet to drop a set in the competition, broke early in the 2nd however her challenger remained in fighting mood and responded to level at 3-3.
Hantuchova's hopes were short-term, nevertheless, as Williams took the initiative in the Slovakian's next service game and served out for the triumph, sealing it with an effective forehand winner on her 4th match point.
"It was a tough match," stated Williams. "Daniela is a terrific opponent so I'm truly delighted to come out with the win. It was hot however you have to play, you need to be ready and prepare yourself mentally. I'm thrilled to survive."
Serena and sister Venus Williams later on withdrew from the doubles shortly before their first-round match because of an injury to left leg.
Ferrer (Spa) (3] beat Chardy (Fra) [29] 6-2 7-6 (7-5) 6-2
Ferrer reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the 15th successive time as he relieved past Chardy.
After the Spaniard won the opening set in simple style, Chardy put up a more powerful obstacle in the 2nd but was unable to transform any of his five set points, permitting Ferrer to take it on a tie-break.
That proved the definitive moment in the match, as Ferrer completed the victory to set up a conference with Germany's Florian Mayer for a place in the quarter-finals.
"The key was when I won the 2nd set," Ferrer stated. "At 4-3 in the 2nd set I made a great deal of mistakes. I had actually set points down and after winning the 2nd set I played more unwinded. Maybe it was my best match this week."
Dellacqua (Aus) beat Zheng (Chn) 6-2 6-4
Ivanovic (Ser) [14] beat Stosur (Aus) [17] 6-7 (8-10) 6-4 6-2
Home preferred Stosur edged a thrilling initially set after rain stopped have fun with when she was 8-7 up in the tie-break.
Former world top Ivanovic, 26, broke serve once in the second set and twice in the decider as she concluded triumph with an easy volley into an open court.
"It was a match of the highest quality. She is a really tough challenger and I simply hung in there," stated Ivanovic, who reached the Australian Open final in 2008.
"Winning in Auckland gave me a great deal of confidence and I'm anticipating the difficulty of playing Serena."
Djokovic (Ser) [2] beat Istomin (Uzb) 6-3 6-3 7-5
Four-time champion Djokovic reduced safely into round 4 with a simple triumph over Uzbekistan's Istomin.
The Serb, whose last defeat in this tournament can be found in the 2010 quarter-finals, broke in the third and ninth games to wrap up the first set and another break showed decisive in the fourth game of the second set.
Djokovic looked set to clinch triumph without dropping his serve, however while serving for the match at 5-4 up in the third set, he double-faulted and hit a backhand into the web to offer Istomin a lifeline.
However, the second seed immediately broke back and made no error 2nd time around in serving out the match.
"I required to have extremely quick footwork and an accurate first service, as high a percentage as possible, using every opportunity to take control over the rally," he said. "I've done really well."
Hisense Arena
Li (Chn) [4] beat Safarova (Cze) [26] 1-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-3
Fourth seed Li, runner-up in 2011 and 2013, survived a Safarova match point as she narrowly avoided ending up being the highest-ranked casualty of the first week in a contest long lasting two hours and 37 minutes.
Safarova, who has actually never beaten a top-10 challenger in a WTA Tour occasion, served for success in the ninth video game of the second set and held a match point in the 12th however Li hung on before dominating the tie-break to force a decider.
The third set was delicately poised till Li broke the Czech in the 8th video game, and Safarova had no answer.
Kerber (Ger) [9] beat Riske (US) 6-3 6-4
Berdych (Cze) [7] beat Dzumhur (Bih) 6-4 6-2 6-2
Robredo (Spa) [17] beat Gasquet (Fra) [9] 2-6 7-5 6-4 7-6 (8-6)
Margaret Court Arena
Pennetta (Ita) [28] beat Barthel (Ger) 6-1 7-5
Anderson (SA) [19] beat R-Vasselin (Fra) 3-6 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 7-5
Fognini (Ita) [15] beat Querrey (US) 7-5 6-4 6-4
Genie's army
Lleyton Hewitt has his 'Fanatics' and Bernie Tomic has 'Tomic's Kittens', however the most significant sound around Melbourne Park on Friday came from an unanticipated love affair between Australia and Canada.
Genie Bouchard, the increasing star and 30th seed, is through to the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the very first time and on course for a quarter-final with Serena Williams.
And the 19-year-old has actually been vociferously supported throughout by a group of Australian trainees, 'Genie's Army', who have sung a brochure of songs about the Canadian and given her gifts including a toy kangaroo after her first 2 wins.
"They revealed up to my preliminary away on Court 15 with their t-shirts," Bouchard informed BBC Sport.
"They're actually into it and helpful and it's excellent to see I have 'super fans' in Australia. They develop a big environment on the court and it's fun to play when they exist."
Quotes of the day
"I inform you this: I'm not equipped to answer that question. I'm going to leave it alone." Serena Williams is asked for her thoughts on the tournament medical professional's idea that guy "developed on the high plains of Africa going after antelope".
"Serena is on top of the game for so long now. You know, she's someone we admire. I look forward to that challenge. I have actually been playing some good tennis and it's going to be great test to see where I'm at." Ana Ivanovic is buoyant ahead of her fourth-round match with the world number one.
"Because I didn't practice much, I was not able to get ready for the next match. Today I was totally kaput." Poland's Jerzy Janowicz produces his best German to summarize a day in which he lost in straight sets to Florian Mayer while playing in sunglasses.
"I believe five centimetres conserved my competition. If she struck it in, my whole team was on the method to the airport." Li Na on how Lucie Safarova was within a hair of knocking her out on match point.
"I was a little bit ill and likewise my mind was not working. I just viewed the ball and just hit it. I didn't know where I struck it." Li's compatriot Zheng Jie after her 6-2 6-4 defeat by Australia's Casey Dellacqua
"They are really sad. Especially when you inform the fashion brand name that they need to make white, they are like, 'Oh, OK, what can we do?' It's just for hopefully 2 weeks. Then they can go once again." Tomas Berdych on breaking it to his set sponsors that the blue-and-white striped number he's using in Melbourne will not clean at Wimbledon.
"I have actually constantly said I delight in playing in the heat, the conditions and stuff. But today wasn't an example of that." South African Kevin Andersen might have done without spending four hours coming back from 2 sets down to beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
"Some of the newspapers and TV stations called me after the match. They stated the whole of Bosnia didn't sleep tonight, that everybody remained in front of their TV and they were so proud." Damir Dzumhur, the 21-year-old qualifier, who became the first Bosnian to reach the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, after losing to Tomas Berdych.
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