Melbourne: Austrian tennis player Dominic Thiem pulled off a sensational comeback to squeeze past home favourite Nick Kyrgios in an entertaining third-round clash in the ongoing Australian Open on Friday.
Thiem registered the victory (4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, and 6-4). The World No.3, who came back from two down to defeat Alexander Zverev in the US Open final last year, took three hours and 21 minutes to overcome Kyrgios and reach the fourth round in Melbourne for the fourth time in five years.
Thiem and Kyrgios could not have had more contrasting 2020s. While Thiem managed to claim a maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open last year in September and spent the tour's hiatus playing a string of exhibition tournaments, Kyrgios did not contest a match after retiring from his opener in Acapulco in February.
In the women's singles, Romanian tennis player Simona Halep successfully navigated the unknown, outclassing 32nd seed Veronika Kudermetova 6-1, 6-3 in 1 hour and 18 minutes in the tournament to progress into the fourth round.
The second seed hadn't previously clashed against Kudermetova, one of the rising stars of women's tennis, who's ranked at a career-high of 36 after scoring wins over top 10 players including Elina Svitolina and Karolina Pliskova in the past six months.
American tennis star Serena Williams registered her 90th win in the tournament to progress to the fourth round.
Williams defeated Russian teenager Anatasia Potapova 7-6 (5), 6-2, saving two set points in the first set and overcoming 31 unforced errors in the third-round clash at Rod Laver Arena.
After facing a tough fight in the first set, Williams did not allow her opponent to make a comeback in the second set and completed an easy win in the encounter.
Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka also returned to the fourth round of the Australian Open for the third time in four years after seeing off Ons Jabeur in an entertaining clash at John Cain Arena.
The Australian Open 2019 champion completed a 6-3, 6-2 victory over the Tunisian trailblazer - her 17th match win in a row - to set up a mouth-watering clash with Garbine Muguruza. (ANI)
