Tennis – Australian Open – Third Round – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia – January 24, 2020 Australia’s Ashleigh Barty in action during the match against Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Highlights of the fifth day at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, on Friday (times AEDT; GMT+11):
1231 BARTY ROARS INTO FOURTH ROUND
World number one Ash Barty kept alive hopes of a local champion for the first time since 1978 with a 6-3 6-2 demolition of 29th-seed Elena Rybakina.
Barty needed just 78 minutes to beat the 20-year-old from Kazakhstan to advance to the fourth round.
1100 PLAY STARTS ON TIME WITH DOUBLES
Play started on time with most of the outside courts hosting first round doubles matches, while world number one Ash Barty opens the third round in the singles on Rod Laver Arena against Kazakhstan’s 29th-seed Elena Rybakina.
Women’s champion Naomi Osaka opens the evening session against American teenager Cori Gauff in arguably the singles clash of the day on the showcourts.
After rain caused delays for the outside courts early on Thursday the weather forecast was for a high of 24 Celsius (75.2 Fahrenheit) but with breezy conditions still to test players at Melbourne Park.
Compiled by Greg Stutchbury; Editing by Sam Holmes