Australian Open: Paolini through to last 16 at a Slam for the first time

Italian Jasmine Paolini, the No 26 seed, advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open by defeating Russian Anna Blinkova 7-6 (1), 6-4 at Melbourne Park on Saturday.

Paolini, ranked No 31 in the world, is through to the second week at a Grand Slam for the first time, having never been past the second round in 16 previous Majors.

After letting an early lead slip, the Italian held off Blinkova to win the first set in a tiebreak. The Russian went up a break in the second set, leading 4-1 before sweeping the last five games in a row to complete the straight sets win in one hour and 26 minutes. The win levels the head-to-head between the two players at 3-3.

The Italian will next face play Russian Anna Kalinskaya, who is also through to the fourth round at a Slam for the first time in her career. Paolini has won the only previous clash between the two, winning in straight sets in Portoroz in 2021.

Paolini had won against Russian Diana Shnaider (6-3, 6-4) and German Tatjana Maria (6-2, 6-3) in the previous rounds.

Earlier in the week, Blinkova, ranked No 57, beat Spaniard Cristina Bucsa (6-2, 6-4) and edged out Kazakh Elena Rybakina, the No 3 seed, in what is the longest tiebreak in women’s Grand Slam history (6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (20)).

Melbourne (Grand Slam), other third-round matches (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 58,910,000):

• Oceane Dodin beat Clara Burel: 6-2, 6-4
• Qinwen Zheng (12) beat Yafan Wang: 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (8)
• Dayana Yastremska (Q) beat Emma Navarro (27): 6-2, 2-6, 6-1
• Anna Kalinskaya beat Sloane Stephens: 6-7 (8), 6-1, 6-4
• Barbora Krejcikova (9) beat Storm Hunter (Q): 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
• Maria Timofeeva (Q) beat Beatriz Haddad Maia (10): 7-6 (7), 6-3
• Magdalena Frech beat Anastasia Zakharova (Q): 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
• Coco Gauff (4) beat Alycia Parks: 6-0, 6-2
• Marta Kostyuk beat Elina Avanesyan: 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
• Mirra Andreeva beat Diane Parry: 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5)
• Aryna Sabalenka (2) beat Lesia Tsurenko (28): 6-0, 6-0
• Amanda Anisimova beat Paula Badosa: 7-5, 6-4
• Elina Svitolina vs. Viktorija Golubic
• Iga Swiatek vs. Linda Noskova
• Jelena Ostapenko vs. Victoria Azarenka

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