Australian Open: Karolina Pliskova, Belinda Bencic join exit queue; Simona Halep through
- Last year’s semifinalist Pliskova loses in straight sets to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
- Bencic rolled 6-0, 6-1 in 49 minutes by 28th seed Anett Kontaveit
Second-seeded Karolina Pliskova and No 6 Belinda Bencic went the same way as Serena Williams and defending champion Naomi Osaka by exiting the Australian Open in a chaotic third round.
Pliskova, a semi-finalist here last year, lost 7-6(4), 7-6(3) to 30th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a match lasting almost 2 and a half hours on Saturday. It was an ominous start, with Pliskova needing almost 18 minutes and fending off six break-point chances before holding in her first service game.
Seven-time Australian Open champion Williams and Osaka lost at the same stage the previous day, when 2018 champion Caroline Wozniacki went into retirement after a loss. Williams, still in pursuit of Margaret Court’s all-time record 24 majors after failing to add to her career tally since the 2017 Australian Open, lost to Wang Qiang, a player she’d beaten in 44 minutes at last year’s US Open. Osaka, who won back-to-back majors at the 2018 US Open and last year here in Australia, lost to 15-year-old Coco Gauff.
Three-time major winner Angelique Kerber bucked the trend by beating Camila Giorgi 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3 in Saturday’s opening match on Margaret Court Arena.
The 2016 Australian Open winner will play Pavlyuchenkova for a spot in the quarter finals.
“It was a tough battle,” the 17th-seeded Kerber said. “It’s great to be in the second week in Melbourne again. It’s still a long way.”