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Matt Eaton

So how do you follow a day like yesterday? Well, you make sure that defending champion Naomi Osaka is in action, you add Ash Barty to the mix, and throw in matches for Rafael Nadal and Denis Shapovalov just for good measure.
There is plenty of interest for Chinese fans too, with several players also in action, the highlight being Zheng Qinwen’s match against Maria Sakkari, the fifth seed this afternoon. 
If that wasn't enough for you, the doubles gets under way as well, where Zhang Shuai and Sam Stosur are seeded fourth. They kick-off their tournament against Japan's Miyu Kato and American Sabrina Satamaria.
Follow us for live coverage of day three in Melbourne.


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Australian Open

Australian Open: Osaka, Nadal and Barty dominate, China hopefuls find mixed results - day 3 as it happened

Naomi Osaka all smiles after cruising to victory in round two. Photo: AFP

Sport

Tennis

In the men’s draw, Rafael Nadal and Denis Shapovalov were in top form, taking solid wins  
Ash Barty and defending champion Naomi Osaka were on fire and move into the next round with ease, Chinese hopeful Zheng Qinwen was defeated by fifth seed Maria Sakkari


Naomi Osaka, Rafael Nadal and Ash Barty are through to round three of the Australian Open after dominating wins on Wednesday. Fifth seed Maria Sakkari beat Chinese hopeful Zheng Qinwen in straight sets while Barbora Krejcikova defeated Wang Xiyu.


Zheng Qinwen

Live

A very good morning to you all, we are back for day 3 and it’s shaping up as another busy day at Melbourne Park. If you thought yesterday was good, today is looking particularly special.
Defending champion Naomi Osaka is in action, Ash Barty is in the mix, plus matches for Rafael Nadal and Denis Shapovalov. Hold on to your seats.
Several Chinese players are also in action, the highlight being Zheng Qinwen’s match against Maria Sakkari, the fifth seed this afternoon. Wang Xiyu takes on fourth seed Barbora Krejcikova, and Wang Qiang is up against Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck. Phew!
If you missed any of yesterday's action, you can jump back in for a refresher. We’ll be on board all day today, so say hi, drop us a note and tell us how you’re enjoying the tennis this year.


Welcome to day 3

Need to plan your day? No problem, here’s a handy reference for today’s schedule. 
Ready for more? Day 3⃣ is here!@ROLEX · #AusOpen · #AO2022 pic.twitter.com/wj0Kzs7Dik
  — #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2022


Order of play

There’s a lot to take in outside of the tennis, and Olympic news continues to roll in fast. Kai Owens, the adopted American skier was confirmed for the USA Olympic team over night. Owens was around 16 months old when she was adopted from her birth country by an American couple and she is now returning as an Olympian.
A smartphone app built by China to monitor the health of attendees at the Beijing Winter Olympics next month contains security flaws that makes it vulnerable to privacy breaches and hackers, according to a report. The MY2022 app was built by the Beijing Organising Committee mainly to track and share Covid-19-related medical information among the athletes during the Games.


What else is happening in the world of sport?

Tennis star Novak Djokovic should set an example and get vaccinated against Covid-19, Spanish government spokesperson Isabel Rodriguez said on Tuesday, when asked if he should be allowed to compete in Spain where vaccination is not mandatory.
The world number one was deported from Australia on Sunday ahead of the Australian Open after entering the country unvaccinated on a medical exemption.
"What Mr. Djokovic has to do is get vaccinated, that would be the most sensible thing to do," Rodriguez told a news conference.
"Leading by example is important and this is indeed what our country's great sportsmen and women do. For example, Mr. (Rafael) Nadal," she added, referring to one of Djokovic's great rivals with whom he is tied on 20 major titles.
Even though vaccination is not mandatory in Spain, the vaccination rate is one of the highest in Europe. Djokovic travels regularly to Spain where he owns a house in the southern resort of Marbella. He spent a few days there in late December and early January and video footage showed him training there.



Spain urges Djokovic to set an example and get vaccinated

No 8 seed Paula Badosa has cruised into the third round with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Martina Trevisan on Rod Laver Arena. This means world No 1 Ash Barty will soon be on court. She’s up against Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti.
Meanwhile, Victoria Azarenka has won her match defeating Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann 6-1, 6-2 on Kia Arena.
Victorious Vika 👍 @vika7 puts in a solid display to defeat Jil Teichmann 6-1, 6-2.#AusOpen · #AO2022 pic.twitter.com/6PpyEp9hUB
  — #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 19, 2022


Badosa wins, Barty up shortly

Barty has started strong, taking an early 2-0 lead. The Aussie is coming off an entirely comfortable 6-0, 6-1 win over Lesia Tsurenko in round 1, she looks set to repeat that performance here today.


Barty in cruise control

Just 20 minutes into this match and Ash Barty is moments away from clinching the opening set. It’s all one-way traffic so far.


Barty leads 5-0

Ash Barty has swapped her tennis whites for high-end glamor for this month's Vogue Australia. The shoot was accompanied by a rare interview about her personal life and fiancé Garry Kissick.



Celebrity status

With Barty in full control, this match could be over within the hour. At 43 minutes, she leads 6-1, 4-1.



Barty gets another break

Ash Barty has made light work of Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti, winning the match 6-1, 6-1 in just 52 minutes.
The world No 1 moves into the third round and a meeting with Italian No 30 seed Camila Giorgi, who won her match in straight sets earlier this morning.


Women’s singles: Barty moves into the third round

The men’s singles match between Yannick Hanfmann and Rafael Nadal is about to get started.
Both men are on court warming up, but with temperatures nearing 30 degrees in Melbourne, we're pretty sure they won't need long. 


Nadal is on Rod Laver Arena

Power-serving top seed Ashleigh Barty raced into the Australian Open third round Wednesday with another near-flawless performance, expelling little energy to swat aside Lucia Bronzetti.
The Australian world number one is in ominous early-season form and was laser-focused on Rod Laver Arena against her second qualifier in a row, sweeping past the Italian 6-1, 6-1 in just 52 minutes.
She is now unbeaten in six matches to start the 2022 season after winning the Adelaide International and has not lost a service game for five straight matches.
"We are exactly where we are," Barty said.
"I felt like we had a good preparation in Adelaide. We played well, played throughout tough matches. (Coach) Craig Tyzzer is the master. "I feel like our whole team works extremely well together. We're enjoying our tennis and being able to produce some pretty good stuff."



Barty: ‘we are exactly where we are’

Superb rally from Nadal to take an early 4-2 lead over Hanfmann. It’s not ever noon here in Hong Kong and already we’re getting some awesome tennis. 
Unreal 😲 @rafaelnadal · #AusOpen · #AO2022  🎥: @wwos · @espn · @eurosport · @wowowtennis pic.twitter.com/DjyqT0DMOV
  — #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 19, 2022


Nadal takes early 4-2 lead

Over on court 15 and the China women’s doubles team of Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan have won their round 1 match against Sofia Kenin of the USA and Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
Team China cruise into the second round on 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 to face Anna-Lena Friedsam/Raluca Olaru.
It’s been an impressive start for all Chinese players in Melbourne, with not a single loss to their record so far.


Women’s doubles: China take their first win

Hanfmann is holding his own here at the Rod Laver Arena against Nadal.
The pair are tied at 2-2 with the second set on serve after Nadal won the first set. It’s heating up out there.



Hanfmann fires back

Over on court 17, the women's singles match between Wang Qiang and Alison Van Uytvanck is about to kick off.
Can Wang sustain China's solid momentum? This will be a good test.


Women’s singles: Wang Qiang steps up

Nadal is turning it on and opens up his lead 6-2, 6-3. 
The shadows of the Rod Laver Arena are also making for some incredible images. 



Nadal goes two sets up

Over on Margaret Court Arena and the men's singles match between Soonwoo Kwon and Denis Shapovalov is in its second hour, with no clear sign of a winner just yet.
Three sets in and they are neck and neck.
An excellent battle brewing between Denis Shapovalov and Kwon on the Margaret Court Arena.#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/xBStNSSr7B
  — Kartheek (@karth__k) January 19, 2022


Men’s singles: Kwon and Shapovalov in a battle

Alison Van Uytvanck has raced ahead in her second round match against Wang Qiang, taking the opening set in just over 30 minutes.


Women’s singles: Van Uytvanck takes the opening set

The men’s and women’s doubles will be coming in hot today. An all Aussie showdown with Bolt/McCabe up against Kokkinakis/Kyrgios is now underway on court 3.


Men’s doubles: Kyrgios back on court

Nadal has the break and is closing in on another solid win, leading Yannick Hanfmann 6-2, 6-3, 5-3.
Hanfmann is serving to stay in the match. 


Nadal on the verge of victory

And there you have it, Nadal dominates yet again. The Spaniard moves into round 3 with a solid 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 win. That was 2 hours and 42 minutes of world class tennis.
🚀🚀 @RafaelNadal
  🎥: @AustralianOpen | #AusOpen | #AO2022pic.twitter.com/DVldkycRiE
  — ATP Tour (@atptour) January 19, 2022


Men’s singles: Nadal takes the win

It looks like China is about to take their first loss of the Australian Open. Wang Qiang in trouble against Belgium's Alison Van Uytvanck.


Trouble for Wang?

Wang Qiang has held on, narrowly. We are now into a third set here on court 17. Can Wang keep China's unbeaten record alive?


Wang forces a third set

Well, this is crazy. We are only now getting back from lunch here in Hong Kong and Shapovalov is four hours into his match with Korean youngster Soonwoo Kwon.
 
Who's ready for a fifth set? 🙋‍♂️🙋‍♀️
  Shapovalov 7-6(6) 6-7(3) 6-7(6) 7-5 Kwon@denis_shapo • #AusOpen • #AO2022 pic.twitter.com/p8yEAjPcw9
  — #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 19, 2022


Fifth set for Shapovalov

All signs point to yes so far.
A record-breaking 21st grand slam title is now in his sights after getting past Yannick Hanfmann at the Australian Open.
Nadal, bidding to become the outright record holder for the most majors won by a man, was too good for Hanfmann in a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 victory in the second round on Wednesday. The Spanish star had won his only previous meeting with the German – at the French Open in 2019 – and proved too strong on Rod Laver Arena.
Nadal converted four of his 16 break point chances, including one of eight in the third set, but only faced two breakpoints on his own serve and fended them both off.
“I knew him before, I played against him in the first round at Roland Garros — I know he’s dangerous,” Nadal said.
“Today his level of tennis was much higher than what his ranking says, without a doubt.”



Nadal on track to make history?

China’s freestyle skiing superstar Eileen Gu can not put a foot wrong. Everything she does is making news. Including eating dumplings.
The 18-year-old was given a rousing online welcome by mainland fans after she arrived in Beijing for the Winter Olympics and headed straight for the nearest dumpling restaurant.
The San Francisco native posted a picture of her eating dumplings soon after her arrival on Weibo, writing in Chinese: “Beijing dumplings, finished eating all of them.”



Who loves dumplings? Gu loves dumplings

There’s a ton of jokes flying around about Novak Djokovic, most of them not appropriate for this forum. We did, however, enjoy this.



A bit of fun, at the expense of Djokovic

Wow, Wang Qiang rebounds. The 30-year-old pulled off a stellar comeback to win 6-2, 7-6, 6-3 and move ahead to round 3. All Chinese women remain undefeated.


Women’s singles: Wang claws back, takes the win

After 4 hours and 25 minutes, Canadian Denis Shapovalov got through the second round in five sets against Kwon Soon-Woo, 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 7-5, 6-2. The 14th seed will next face American Reilly Opelka in the third round.



Men’s singles: We have a result

Surging Chinese tennis star Wang Xiyu is facing No 4 ranked Czech Barbora Krejcikova in what could be the biggest test yet for the young gun.
Krejcikova kicks off with an early 2-1 lead on serve.


Big test for Wang Xiyu

The no 4 seed pair in women’s doubles Zhang Shuai and Samantha Stosur get past Miyu Kato and Sabrina Santamaria 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.
It's been a long partnership for these two, more than four years, and have been tearing up the women's doubles circuit, including winning the 2018 Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open.


Women’s doubles: Zhang / Stosur win

There’s still some great tennis to go on day 3, but there are some excellent games brewing on day 4. Here’s a few we’ll be watching.
Wang Xinyu (China) v 2-Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus)
Nick Kyrgios (Australia) v 2-Daniil Medvedev (Russia)
Zhang Shuai (China) v 12-Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)
Andy Murray (Britain) v Taro Daniel (Japan)


Day 4 is looking solid already

Naomi Osaka has opened strong against 54th seed Madison Brengle, taking an early 2-0 lead.


Women’s singles: Osaka opens strong

Osaka is making short work of Brengle, who seems to have few answers and is 6-0 the first set. Remember, we’re only 20 minutes in.



Osaka ruthless against Brengle

The Chinese women have had a stellar run at the Australian Open over the past few days, but that unbeaten record has now been broken by Barbora Krejcikova, who defeated Wang Xiyu in straight sets 6-2, 6-3.



Women’s singles: Krejcikova defeats Wang

Seriously though, how good is Osaka looking. Focused, razor sharp and on point.
Fire in the hole 🚀
  🎥: @wwos • @espn • @Eurosport • @wowowtennis @naomiosaka • #AO2022 • #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/dafApBQUqF
  — #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 19, 2022


Osaka in the zone

There should be fireworks over on Margaret Court Arena shortly as Zheng Qinwen takes on 5th seed Maria Sakkari.
It’s a big afternoon for China’s females and Zheng will have to be on top of her game to pull off a win.


Zheng Qinwen up soon

Naomi Osaka needed just over an hour to brush past Madison Brengle and secure her spot on the third round. Brengle goes down 6-0, 6-4. 
That was clinical.


Women’s singles: Osaka sweeps aside Brengle

Fifth seed Maria Sakkari has taken out Chinese rookie Zheng Qinwen in straight sets, progressing through to the third round.
Sakkari needed just 90 minutes to get the job done 6-1, 6-4, ending 108th played Zheng.



Women’s singles: Maria Sakkari takes out Zheng Qinwen

Thanks for sticking around, we hope you enjoyed the tennis as much as we did. We’ll be back on deck tomorrow when round three gets under way. 
Day four will be intriguing to say the least. Here’s a snapshot of what’s in store.
Wang Xinyu (China) v 2-Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus)
Nick Kyrgios (Australia) v 2-Daniil Medvedev (Russia)
Zhang Shuai (China) v 12-Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)
Andy Murray (Britain) v Taro Daniel (Japan)
Until then, have a great evening.


.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Live | Australian Open: Osaka, Nadal and Barty dominate, China hopefuls find mixed results - day 3 as it happened

Live | Australian Open: Osaka, Nadal and Barty dominate, China hopefuls find mixed results - day 3 as it happened