Poland's Iga Swiatek hits a return against Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova Poland's Iga Swiatek hits a return against Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova during their women's singles match on day five of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on Thursday. Photo: David Gray/AFP
Image: David Gray/AFP
Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round showdown with Emma Raducanu at the Australian Open on Thursday while Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title.
But the exciting 18-year-old rising star Joao Fonseca of Brazil fell in five sets to Italy's Lorenzo Sonego to bring his first major to a halt in the second round.
Men's defending champion Jannik Sinner and last year's runner-up Daniil Medvedev were also in action in later matches on day five.
Women's second seed Swiatek raced past world number 49 Rebecca Sramkova 6-0, 6-2 while Britain's Raducanu reached the third round for the first time in Melbourne by beating Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-5.
"Well for sure it's going to be a tough one," Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam winner but never a Melbourne champion, said as she sized up Raducanu.
"Emma can play great tennis. We all know that."
Raducanu is seeking to claw up the rankings after an injury-hit 2024 and return to the form that brought her a shock US Open crown in 2021 as a qualifier.
"It will be a very good match for me," said the 22-year-old.
"It's an opportunity to test my game, see where I'm at."
Elena Rybakina, the sixth seed and former Wimbledon champion, powered past American wildcard Iva Jovic in straight sets.
Emma Navarro, the eighth seed from the United States, will face Ons Jabeur next after battling through three sets to beat China's 108th-ranked Wang Xiyu.
The Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia's Camila Osorio.
"Very, very tough to breathe," she said, adding that she may not have continued if she had lost the first set.
Fourth seed Jasmine Paolini faces Renata Zarazua of Mexico to round off the night on Rod Laver Arena.
Fritz swept through to a third-round clash against Gael Monfils with a brutal display of power hitting and has dropped just eight games in the tournament so far.
The American fourth seed was untouchable on Margaret Court Arena, swatting aside Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 in 82 minutes.
Fritz only gave up five games to blitz past Jenson Brooksby in the first round and has spent barely three hours on court.
"Always feels great to come out and play a match like that," said Fritz, last year's US Open finalist who is yet to drop his serve in his pursuit of a first major crown.
"I played well in my first round too so I'll be high on confidence going into the third round."
The supremely talented Fonseca has been tipped for the top by Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.
But having stunned ninth seed Andrey Rublev in straight sets in the first round, the teenager went down fighting, Sonego pulling through 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to disappoint the vocal Brazilian fans.
Sonego's reward is a clash against Hungary's Fabian Marozsan, who took down 17th seed Frances Tiafoe, also in five sets.
Australia's main hope Alex de Minaur dismantled American Tristan Boyer in three sets and 13th seed Holger Rune battled past Matteo Berrettini in four.
Italian world number one Sinner was facing Australian wildcard Tristan Schoolkate.
Former number one Medvedev, beaten in the final last year by Sinner, faces Learner Tien, 19, of the United States.
AFP