Serena Williams overcame an error-strewn start on Friday to thwart Anastasia Potapova and set up a blockbuster fourth-round clash with seventh seed Aryna Sabalenka who thrashed American Ann Li 6-3, 6-1, while 2019 champion Naomi Oska was set for a showdown with last year’s runner up Garbine Muguruza at the Australian Open.
Williams had 31 unforced errors but wore down the Russian 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 in 97 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
Naomi Osaka had to deal with a butterfly landing on her but was otherwise little bothered as she breezed into the last 16 with 6-3, 6-2 victory over Tunisian 27th seed Ons Jabeur in 1hr 18min to set up a showdown with Muguruza, who beat Zarina Diyas 6-1, 6-1 in just 56 minutes.
French Open champion Iga Swiatek, 19, seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time, beat France’s Fiona Ferro 6-4, 6-3 to set up a meeting with Simona Halep, a 6-1, 6-3 winner over Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova.
Thiem overcomes Kyrgios
Ice-cool Dominic Thiem rallied from two sets down to tame flamboyant Nick Kyrgios in front of a raucous crowd hours before Melbourne goes into coronavirus lockdown while an injured Novak Djokovic survived a massive scare against Taylor Fritz in the third round.
The defending champion said he had a tear but fought hard to beat America’s Taylor Fritz 7-6(1), 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2 past midnight.
Djokovic set-up a fourth-round clash with big-serving Raonic after the 14th seed beat Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics in four sets.
Kyrgios produced a virtuoso performance in the first two sets, using every trick in the book, including underarm serves and tweeners, as he fed off the energy at a boisterous John Cain Arena, his favourite court. But he couldn't sustain the intensity as US Open champion Thiem, last year's runner-up, found his groove with some dominant serving to fight back and outlast the 25-year-old 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
He will now play 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the quarter-finals, with the Bulgarian through after Pablo Carreno Busta retired injured in the second set.
Earlier, Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev pulled off a big upset when the world No 114 blitzed eighth seed Diego Schwartzmann into submission 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 with a barrage of winners.
Karatsev is making his Grand Slam debut at Melbourne Park and is incredibly yet to drop a set as he set up a fourth-round meeting with Felix Auger-Aliassime, who beat 11th seed Denis Shapovalov 7-5, 7-5, 6-3 in an all-Canadian battle.