Iga Swiatek Advances To Australian Open 2025 Third Round, To Face This Ex-US Open Champion Next

Iga Swiatek romped into a showdown with Emma Raducanu in early Australian Open second-round action Thursday ahead of Jannik Sinner stepping up the defence of his Melbourne Park title. Rising star Joao Fonseca will be on court again while Daniil Medvedev is looking to avoid becoming another top-10 player to be knocked out by a teenager when he faces Learner Tien. Second seed Swiatek raced past world number 49 Rebecca Sramkova 6-0, 6-2 while Britain's Raducanu reached the Melbourne third round for the first time by beating Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-5.

"I felt really solid today and it was a really efficient game," said Swiatek. Her victory sets up a high-profile clash against the 2021 US Open winner for a place in the last 16.

Raducanu, seeking to climb up the rankings after an injury-wracked 2024, said she was looking forward to the challenge of playing against the five-time Grand Slam champion.

"It will be a very good match for me. It's an opportunity to test my game, see where I'm at," she said.

Italian world number one Sinner won his first-round clash in straight sets and will hope for another quick victory when he takes on Australian wildcard Tristan Schoolkate in the night session on Rod Laver Arena.

By contrast, Russian firebrand Medvedev seems to like winning the hard way.

Four of his seven matches in Melbourne went the full distance a year ago, including his defeat in the final to Sinner.

And he needed another marathon to beat the 418th-ranked Kasidit Samrej on Tuesday in the first Grand Slam of the year.

Fifth seed Medvedev was 3-5 behind and on the brink of going two sets to one down against the Thai player when he saw red, slamming his racquet into the net camera repeatedly until they were both in bits.

Medvedev,