Poland's Iga Swiatek hits a return against Czech Republic's Linda Noskova during their women's singles match on day seven of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 20, 2024. Photo: ANTHONY WALLACE
Top seed Iga Swiatek tumbled out of the Australian Open on Saturday, losing 3-6 6-3 6-4 to Czech teenager Linda Noskova in the third round as her bid for a maiden title at Melbourne Park and fifth Grand Slam trophy fell apart.
The Pole, more accustomed to breezing past opponents with the odd "bagel" thrown in, had struggled in Melbourne, enduring a first-set tiebreak in her opener against Sofia Kenin before fighting back from the brink to oust Danielle Collins.
Thing were looking up for her after a strong opening set but Noskova dug deep to become the first teenager to defeat the top-ranked player at the Australian Open since Amelie Mauresmo toppled Lindsay Davenport in 1999.
"I'm speechless, I knew it was going to be an amazing match with the world number one and such a player, but I didn't really think it would end up like this," said Noskova.
The emotional 19-year-old crouched to the floor and put her hands over her face when the big moment came and buried her head in her towel later and cried.
"I'm just really glad to get through this round," she added.
Noskova had emerged as a tricky third-round opponent for Swiatek with three top-10 wins under her belt, but the Pole had looked in no mood to be dragged into another fight as she broke in the sixth game and held to love in the next to take charge.
The 22-year-old Swiatek barely let the intensity drop after taking the opening set as she forced the Melbourne Park debutant into some uncomfortable positions in the second by working the angles and launching big forehands.
But Noskova held firm, responding with explosive hitting of her own and breaking en route to levelling up the contest.
"I felt like I had everything under control until she broke me in the second set," Swiatek said. "I had couple of chances to break her in second set and I didn't use them. That's a shame.
"She was proactive. I wanted to do that later in the next games. Sometimes I was rushing it. I wasn't playing with my intuition and naturally.
"I guess I'll have to work on stuff to feel more comfortable next year."
World number 50 Noskova heaped the pressure on the four-times major champion to take a 2-1 lead in the decider.
Swiatek looked to have composed herself during a brief pause in play as doctors attended to a sick supporter in the crowd and broke back, but Noskova did not relent and got her nose in front again to close out the match on serve and complete a huge upset.
"I was shaking a little," Noskova said about serving for the victory. "I didn't hit two first serves which was not the best start for me but I pulled out an ace."
Swiatek said she had been more stressed at Melbourne Park than in other tournaments, especially in the first two rounds.
"Some things just didn't work as they did before, even though I was working the same way," she added. "I feel like I did really everything I could in pre-season to improve some stuff that I wanted to.
"Then I came here and I wasn't playing natural anymore."
Medvedev motors into fourth round at Melbourne Park
Daniil Medvedev raced into the second week of the Australian Open with a 6-3 6-4 6-3 victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime on Saturday, showing few signs of fatigue after his marathon late-night outing in the second round.
The Russian third seed, who came from two sets down to beat Emil Ruusuvuori well into the early hours of Friday morning, looked at his clinical best as he eased into the fourth round for fifth time.
"It was tough, especially after the last match I had but happy to play some good level," said Medvedev, who took his career record against Auger-Aliassime to 7-0.
"I tried to always give him tough shots so I didn't have to run too much and in the third set I managed to find some shots, so happy with the level of my game."
The pair went to five sets in the quarter-finals two years ago at Melbourne Park before Medvedev prevailed after saving a match point but Auger-Aliassime came nowhere near the level he displayed that night.
The error-prone Canadian 27th seed showed some fight to prevent Medvedev from winning the match with a sixth break but the Russian served out comfortably enough to seal the victory in just over two hours.
Medvedev, back-to-back losing finalist in Melbourne in 2021 and 2022, moves on to a meeting with Portuguese world number 69 Nuno Borges in the last 16.
The 27-year-old said he was still feeling the effects of his second-round match, after which he did not get to bed until 7am.
"It wasn't easy, I'm not feeling fresh, I'm not feeling 100%," he said.
"At least I have this super ability that I can sleep where I want, whenever I want. When I was younger, I would go out at night after matches and sometimes train without sleep. Maybe that helped me play today." (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Norrie beats Ruud to keep British hopes alive
Britain's Cameron Norrie celebrates after victory against Norway's Casper Ruud in their men's singles match on day seven of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 20, 2024. (Photo by David GRAY / AFP) / Photo: DAVID GRAY
Cameron Norrie, the 19th seed, took out former world number two Casper Ruud with a 6-4 6-7(7) 6-4 6-3 win to make it to the fourth round of the tournament for the first time.
The 28-year-old is the last remaining British singles player at the tournament.
- Reuters
