Melbourne: Japanese US Open champion Naomi Osaka and sixth seed Elina Svitolina survived big scares but displayed fighting qualities to pull back from the brink at the Australian Open here, Saturday.
On day six at Melbourne Park, fourth seeded Osaka looked down and out against Taiwanese veteran Hsieh Su-wei before battling back to win 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 and set up a last 16 meeting with Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova, who beat China’s Wang Qiang in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.
Pliskova struggled with a painful shoulder complaint that required treatment at every change of ends, and medical timeouts, before somehow beating China’s Zhang Shuai 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 as the temperature rose in the centre court sunshine.
Osaka’s win equals the 21-year-old’s best performance at the Australian Open, where she reached the last 16 in 2018 but lost to Halep.
But she looked headed for the exit when she conceded the first set and was down 1-4 in the second before winning five straight games to force a decider.
“I just didn’t want to give up,” said the Japanese, who made 42 unforced errors and received a code violation after throwing her racquet. “I really love Grand Slams so I did anything I could do to stay here a bit longer.”
Ukrainian Svitolina also staged an epic fightback. She received treatment on her neck and shoulder twice during the victory.
“It was very hot conditions, I was struggling a little bit. We left everything on court today. We practice every day for these kind of matches,” she said, watched by boyfriend Gael Monfils. “I just told myself ‘you’re going to die or win’. It was a mental game. I had to stay strong.”
In men’s singles, Kei Nishikori had a comparative easy affair in comparison to his second round match. Nishikori overcame Portugal’s Jaoa Sousa in straight sets 7-6(8-6), 6-1, 6-2.
Agencies
