Ons Jabeur's Australian Open dreams are over for another year after the Tunisian fell to a three-set defeat against eighth seed Emma Navarro in the third round on Saturday.
The three-time Grand Slam finalist, now No 39 in the world and unseeded at Melbourne Park after an injury-ravaged 2024, was beaten 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 on Margaret Court Arena.
A tearful Jabeur needed medical treatment during her second-round win over Camila Osorio after suffering breathing problems due to asthma.
Jabeur admitted after that match that she is not yet at the levels required to be a top-10 player again.
And the 30-year-old fell short against the American who came through her third three-set match in a row.
“I love three sets! I love tennis so much I can't resist, I gotta play three sets,” Navarro, whose first appearance in the fourth round sees her take on Daria Kasatkina, joked post-match.
“I came out playing really well, maybe she wasn't playing her best, and then she played a really great four games to get it to 5-4 and a really good second set.
“I just wanted to stick in there, keep believing in myself and know that if I put myself in the best position to do what I want to do, that maybe I'd come out on top, and I was able to do that.
“She's tough because she'll pull out the slice and go either short or deep … so it's tough to try to cover both, but I just tried to be ready for anything, put an extra ball back in play, and make her play one more.”
Russian ninth seed Kastakina won 13 of the last 16 games to defeat Yulia Putintseva 7-5, 6-1, having trailed 3-0 at start the match.
Second seed Iga Swiatek brutally disposed of British hope Emma Raducanu, losing just one game in a 6-1, 6-0 thrashing on Rod Laver Arena.
“I felt like the ball is listening to me,” Swiatek said after rattling off 11 straight games in a statement display Down Under.
“All the tactics and everything I wanted to do, I was able to. So I just kept going. This match was kind of perfect for me.”
Five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek has not dropped a set or even a service game in her first three rounds in Melbourne and faces world No 128 Eva Lys of Germany for a place in the quarter-finals.
“It was a match going into it I knew I had to play really well,” said Raducanu, who is yet to win a set in four matches against Swiatek.
“Credit to Iga, she played good tennis, but I think it was a little bit of her playing well and me not playing so well. That combination is probably not good and resulted in today.
“The scoreline was obviously quite harsh. I feel like I look back and know exactly what I need to do, and I take it as feedback.”
Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina needed a medical timeout to treat a back spasm before winning 6-3, 6-4 against Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine.
Asked if her back would be OK, the Kazakhstani replied: “Not really. So I will see my physio and hopefully he does some magic.”
Elina Svitolina emulated her husband Gael Monfils in knocking out a world No 4 in the third round of the Australian Open on Saturday.
Svitolina beat Jasmine Paolini 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the women's draw just hours after Monfils stunned Taylor Fritz on the same Margaret Court Arena.
Svitolina sets up a clash against unseeded Russian Veronika Kudermetova, who earlier beat Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-4, 6-2.
In the men's draw, world No 1 and defending Jannik Sinner powered into the last 16 with a straight-sets thrashing of American Marcos Giron.
The Italian world No 1 dropped a set for the first time in 14 matches in his second-round win over Australian wildcard Tristan Schoolkate.
But there were no such wobbles against the unseeded Giron on Rod Laver Arena as he emphatically sprinted home 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in just over two hours, slamming 35 winners and eight aces.
Unseeded Frenchman Monfils rolled back the years with a fabulous performance to earn a 3-6, 7-5, 7-6, 6-4 win over Fritz.
The 38-year-old is enjoying a late-career flourish after becoming the oldest singles champion in ATP Tour history when he swept to victory at the Auckland Classic.
American qualifier Learner Tien, 19, became the youngest man to reach the fourth round since Rafael Nadal in 2005 when he overcame injured Frenchman Corentin Moutet 7-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Tien stunned three-time runner-up Daniil Medvedev in a five-set epic in the previous round.
