Ash Barty through to Australian Open fourth round, Naomi Osaka exits tournament

Ash Barty has reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, but defending champion Naomi Osaka has been knocked out of the tournament by unseeded American Amanda Anisimova.

Barty progressed with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Italian 30th seed Camila Giorgi on Rod Laver Arena, with many observers feeling Osaka would be her next opponent in the last 16.

But Anisimova scored an upset victory over the four-time major winner, claiming a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (10-5) triumph on Margaret Court Arena.

This is the fourth year in a row that Barty has at least reached this stage of the Australian Open.

«I thought that tonight was really clean and I looked after my service games,» Barty said in her courtside interview.

«I got out of a tricky one, being [down] 0-40, and it was a good performance overall.»

Barty and Giorgi did not take the court until almost an hour later than scheduled. The final match of the day session — between Matteo Berrettini and Carlos Alcaraz — stretched past four hours and needed a fifth set to decider the winner.

The delay did not seem to bother Barty, who held serve in the first game and then broke Giorgi for a 2-0 lead.

Barty's dominance of her opponents' serves in her opening two matches helped paved the way for both victories and it seemed Giorgi was facing as much pressure.

But the Italian won her next service game to love, easing her nerves as she got on the scoreboard.

Later in the set, Giorgi came close to landing a blow on Barty when she had four break points during the seventh game with the Australian leading 4-2.

Giorgi's powerful groundstrokes from the baseline left Barty scrambling to return at times, however emotionally she was unperturbed.

The Wimbledon champion calmly served out the game to hold for a 5-2 lead, before