Australia, however, has also embraced foreign-born tennis players, with Muscovite Daria Gavrilova switching nationality from Russian Federation only weeks ago – just in time to help her adopted nation win the Hopman Cup and also make a run to the fourth round at Melbourne Park.
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The nationality of Sydney-born Briton Johanna Konta continues to cause fascination at the Australian Open, with even the Internet seeming to think she’s Australian. She said Puig “was playing with awesome intensity, I was really in trouble in that first set”. Williams has now won 71 of her 80 matches in the Australian Open. “I don’t think about the numbers until I finish the match and someone mentions it. I think it’s a good fact that I’ve been able to win that many matches”.
Johanna Konta has become the first British woman to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open in 29 years.
“It’s not something I ever aimed for or looked for, but when it happens, it’s very special”.
Allertova, who was close to tears after the match, said: “I hurt my left leg in the opening round, it got worse in the second and today it was just not me on the court”.
Tournament officials said play would not be possible on outdoor courts until at least 2:30 p.m., and the rain was still falling at Melbourne Park. She plays 10th-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro in a night match on Rod Laver Arena.
Earlier, Federer dropped his first set of the Open against a man many consider to be the 17-time Grand Slam champion’s clone and heir apparent, Grigor Dimitrov.
Despite the short stint on Laver, Kasatkina said it was a great experience, especially after Serena complimented her forehand at the net.
Azarenka said after the match, “It wasn’t easy for sure, especially when you don’t know who you play….”
Konta continued to dominate on serve and wrapped up a one-sided win after just 63 minutes.
In other third-round clashes, fourth-seed Agnieszka Radwanska played through pain to win in straight sets to book a date with Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam.
Sharapova raced through the first set of her clash with American Lauren Davis but needed to shrug off the loss of the second set before easing through 6-1, 6-7, 6-0, recording her 600th Tour win in the process.
Kasatkina came into the event as the world’s 69th-ranked player but was no match for the composed and massively experienced American, who is gunning to equal Steffi Graf’s Open-era record of 22 Grand Slam titles.
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Standing in Konta’s way is Ekaterina Makarova, the world number 24 from Russian Federation. Her first serve was firing at 72 per cent and she forced 12 break points and faced none. “Everything I’ve been trying to work on was kind of clicking”. “I’m often never seen without one”, Williams said.
