Victoria Mboko, a 19-year-old tennis player from Toronto, advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open after defeating 14th-seeded Clara Tauson of Denmark with a score of 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-3 in Melbourne. Despite facing nine double faults, Mboko, the 17th seed, managed to secure the win with six aces and by breaking on five of her 13 opportunities. In contrast, Tauson had five aces, four double faults, broke on five of her six chances, and won 63% of her first-serve points.
In a separate match, Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani advanced to the third round of women’s doubles with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over France’s Elsa Jacquemot and Colombia’s Emiliana Arango. The duo will face off against the ninth-seeded pair of Cristina Bucsa from Spain and Nicole Melichar-Martinez from the United States.
Top seed Aryna Sabalenka and third seed Coco Gauff faced tough challenges in the third round. Sabalenka overcame Anastasia Potapova with a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7) victory and is set to meet Canada’s Mboko in the next round. Gauff, after a shaky start against Hailey Baptiste, managed a comeback with a 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 win and will face No. 19 Karolina Muchova in the upcoming match.
Carlos Alcaraz won his third-round match but acknowledged losing the “drop-shot battle” against Corentin Moutet. Despite the playful exchange of drop shots, Alcaraz emerged victorious with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 win over the No. 32 seed. He will next play against No. 19 Tommy Paul.
Young talent Iva Jovic, at 18 years old, defeated No. 7 Jasmine Paolini and credited advice from Novak Djokovic for her victory. Jovic will face Yulia Putintseva in the next round. Additionally, Daniil Medvedev secured a comeback victory over Fabian Marozsan to set up a rematch with Learner Tien.
Due to expected high temperatures at Melbourne Park, play will start an hour earlier than scheduled, with a forecasted high of 40 degrees Celsius.