Ashleigh Barty, Naomi Osaka and Rafael Nadal all won comfortably at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Osaka and Barty could meet each other in the fourth round and both have been untroubled so far, with Barty dropping only three games in two matches, while Nadal saw off a spirited challenge from German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann.
On a very good day for the big names, the leading casualties were 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz who was knocked out by Adrian Mannarino, and Olympic champion Belinda Bencic beaten by Amanda Anisimova.
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Doubles delight
There was a rare full house for British doubles players in first-round action on Wednesday. Joe Salisbury led the way with American Rajeev Ram, the two-time finalists beating Nikoloz Basilashvili and Miomir Kecmanovic, while there were also wins for Jamie Murray, Neal Skupski, Lloyd Glasspool and Heather Watson.
Isolation for Humbert
The risk of players having to pull out of the tournament after testing positive for coronavirus has so far not materialised, but France’s Ugo Humbert who lost in the first round, faces a prolonged stay in Australia having contracted the virus.
Fallen seeds
Women: Belinda Bencic (22), Sara Sorribes Tormo (32)Men: Hubert Hurkacz (10)
Who’s up next?
The British show rolls into town again on Thursday as Emma Raducanu, Andy Murray, Dan Evans and Heather Watson all take to the court.
Raducanu will look to follow up her impressive victory over Sloane Stephens in another night match against Danka Kovinic, while Murray meets Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel.
Evans eased through against David Goffin and next plays Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, and Watson will try to take revenge against Tamara Zidansek having lost to her in Adelaide last week.
The headline match of the day pits second seed and title favourite Daniil Medvedev against maverick Nick Kyrgios.
