Top seed Iga Swiatek crashed out of the Australian Open on Saturday, losing 3-6 6-3 6-4 to Czech teenager Linda Noskova in the third round as her bid for a maiden Melbourne Park title and fifth Grand Slam trophy fell apart.
The Pole, more accustomed to breezing past opponents with the odd “bagel” or 6-0 scoreline thrown in, had struggled in Melbourne, enduring a first-set tiebreak in her opener against Sofia Kenin before fighting back from the brink of defeat to oust Danielle Collins last time out.
Noskova, 19, emerged as a tricky third-round opponent with three top-10 wins under her belt, but Swiatek looked in no mood to be dragged into another dogfight as she broke in the sixth game and held to love in the next to take charge.
