The third round will conclude on Day 7 of the Australian Open and hot weather will be a factor. With temperatures expected to reach around 100 degrees, the performance venue’s schedule was moved up an hour.
The lower half of the men’s and women’s singles will have their third round matches – hopefully the weather won’t be too muggy.
Check out the full day 7 match order here
Here’s what we’ll be watching:
Stanmore at night
All eyes will be on 40-year-old Stan Wawrinka, already the oldest man to reach the third round of a Grand Slam since 1978, as he beat Frenchman Arthur Guia in five sets on day five. How will the Swiss recover and what will he bring to the table in his third-round match against ninth-seeded American Taylor Fritz?
Please provide more keys
The reigning women’s singles champion is expected to enter her second week in Melbourne, opening against a suddenly resurgent Karolina Pliskova on Rod Laver Arena. Pliskova is ranked outside the top 1,000, with her ranking protected due to injuries during the season and two surgeries on her left ankle.
Former world No. 1 Pliskova won the pair’s only previous meeting, in Brisbane in 2020, in three sets. Not sure how much information can be gleaned from that fight, maybe the Czech came a little too fast, but it will be interesting to see her take her place in a matchup of two women who can absolutely wipe out the ball. Don’t expect much defense in the third round.
Sinners are still running naked
Yannick Sinner will look to extend his Australian Open winning streak to 17 matches on day seven when he takes on American Elliot Spitzri in his second match with Rod Laver. The Italian, who is now on a 17-match winning streak since last year’s title in Vienna, has made no mistakes, winning twice and conceding only 10 games (his first victory came after retiring after two sets).
So far, the four-time Grand Slam champion is doing pretty well. On the surface, the match looked like a blowout because of Spitzri’s ranking (No. 85) and inexperience (Australian Open debut and third Grand Slam main draw appearance), but the American looked very impressive in wins over Joao Fonseca and Wu Yibing.
The variable, of course, is the heat. The second race of the day promises to be the most difficult of conditions.
Iga’s exploration continues
Will this be the year Iga Swiatek’s punishing baseline game makes its debut at the Australian Open? The two-time semifinalist and No. 2 seed will face a big test on Day 7 against No. 31 seed Anna Kalinskaya. The 2024 quarter-finalist will enter the match with confidence after claiming one win in three matches against Swiatek and advancing in straight sets.
Swiatek’s last two encounters with Kalinskaya were won in straight sets, and she did not drop a set. She presided over an interesting quarter draw that also included two-time champion Naomi Osaka and former finalist Elena Rybakin. What is certain is that the semi-finalists in this section will be put to the test next week.
