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Hunting
his 100th ATP singles title at this year's tournament, Swiss ace Roger
Federer showed his class against Dan Evans, defeating the Englishman 6-7 (5),
6-7 (3), 3-6.
It
was a similar story for long-time rival Rafael Nadal, who made short work of
local player Matthew Ebden 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, while last year's finalist Marin
Cilic won a hard-fought battle against American youngster Mackenzie McDonald,
7-5, 6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-4.
For
local fans, the progression of 19-year-old sensation Alex de Minaur was the
highlight of day, with his gripping five-set thriller against Henri Laaksonen
lasting just under four hours.
In
the end, the back-and-forth marathon match finished in de Minaur's favor with
a score of 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-3, to the delight of the home crowd.
In
other high-profile men's matches, Grigor Dimitrov overcame Pablo Cuevas 6-3,
6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-5, and veteran Tomas Berdych was too good for Robin Haase,
winning their tie 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.
In
the women's bracket, Wozniacki showed her aggressive side, dispatching
Johanna Larsson 6-1, 6-3, while world No. 2 Angelique Kerber had too much
firepower for Beatriz Haddad Maia, winning the match 6-2, 6-3, while American
Sloane Stephens also made it look easy against Timea Babos, taking that
contest 6-3, 6-1.
In
what was another high point for Australian fans, world No. 15 Ashley Barty
outgunned Chinese star Wang Yafan 6-2, 6-3, and while there weren't many
significant upsets on day three in Melbourne, a notable exception came when
world No. 9 Kiki Bertens crashed out against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 3-6,
6-3, 6-3.
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