Victoria Mboko advances to the fourth round of the Australian Open after defeating 14th-seeded Clara Tauson in a thrilling match. The 19-year-old Canadian, seeded 17th, showcased her skills with six aces but also struggled with nine double faults during the Grand Slam event. She capitalized on five of her 13 break opportunities and won 65% of her first-serve points.
Tauson, on the other hand, had five aces, four double faults, converted five out of six break chances, and won 63% of her first-serve points. Despite Tauson’s efforts to come back from a 5-4 deficit in the second set, Mboko dominated the third set to secure the victory.
In another match, Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani advanced to the third round of the women’s doubles competition with a solid 6-2, 6-4 win against France’s Elsa Jacquemot and Colombia’s Emiliana Arango. The fifth-seeded duo will now face the ninth-seeded pair of Cristina Bucsa from Spain and Nicole Melichar-Martinez from the United States.
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka and third-seeded Coco Gauff faced tough challenges in the third round. Sabalenka overcame Anastasia Potapova in a tight match, winning 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7). The Belarusian will now meet Canada’s Mboko in the next round. Gauff also fought hard against Hailey Baptiste before securing a 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 victory. Sabalenka, a two-time Australian Open champion, is aiming for another title after finishing as the runner-up last year.
Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz won his third-round match but humorously admitted to losing the “drop-shot battle” against Corentin Moutet. Alcaraz, the world’s top-ranked player, praised Moutet’s versatile playing style, which included drop shots, slice shots, lobs, and even an underarm serve. Despite the entertaining match, Alcaraz emerged victorious and will face Tommy Paul in the next round.
As the tournament progresses, players like Iva Jovic and Yulia Putintseva also advanced to the next round after impressive performances. The upcoming matches promise more excitement, with Daniil Medvedev set for a rematch against Learner Tien and high temperatures expected to impact the schedule at Melbourne Park.
