2026 Australian Open: Sabalenka, Medvedev battle into fourth round
World number one Aryna Sabalenka passed her first major test of the Australian Open on Friday, fending off a serious challenge from Anastasia Potapova to reach the fourth round with a tense 7-6(4), 7-6(7) win.
At a Grand Slam spiked with geopolitical tension, Potapova played for Austria after a recent nationality switch from Russia, and represented the central European nation with distinction in the early match at Rod Laver Arena.
Seemingly down and out at 4-0 in the second set, the world number 55 broke Sabalenka three times and nudged ahead to 6-5, forcing the Belarusian into a surprising scrap to the finish.
Potapova will rue failing to take her chances, though, seeing four set points slip through her fingers in the final tiebreak.
Sabalenka was more clinical, setting up a match point with a drive-volley down the line before sealing victory when Potapova thumped a backhand into the net.
"She played incredible tennis. I was always on the back foot and, to be honest, there are days where you just have to be there, just have to fight," Sabalenka said on court.
"Emotionally I was all over the place ... I was just trying to cool myself down, which wasn't working well today. My brain was somewhere else, my arms were going in another direction.
"Somehow, magically, I was able to get this win."
Four-times Grand Slam champion Sabalenka booked her sixth consecutive appearance in the fourth round at Melbourne Park, where she won the title back-to-back in 2023 and 2024.
Her win set up an intriguing duel against Canadian 17th seed Victoria Mboko, who edged Clara Tauson to reach the last 16 in her Australian Open main draw debut.
Daniil Medvedev clawed his way back from two sets down to beat Fabian Marozsan 6-7(5), 4-6, 7-5, 6-0, 6-3 at the Australian Open on Friday to set up a last-16 tie against Learner Tien, the young American who knocked him out in the second round last year.
Medvedev fell in the first round in three straight Grand Slams after losing to Tien in Melbourne last year and he looked set for another early exit at a major when the Hungarian opened up a two-set lead.
However, former world number one Medvedev, a three-times finalist at the year's opening Grand Slam, finally got into gear and relied on his serve to pull him out of trouble.
Winning nine games in a row to take the match to a deciding set, Medvedev traded breaks with Marozsan midway through the fifth before completing the comeback victory after three hours and 43 minutes.
Canadian 19-year-old Victoria Mboko earned a 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-3 win over Danish 14th seed Clara Tauson to reach the fourth round on her Australian Open debut.
She is the first Canadian to reach the last 16 since Eugenie Bouchard in 2015.
