Djokovic cruises; Timofeeva marches on

MELBOURNE, Australia — Novak Djokovic found his groove to cruise through to the fourth round of the Australian Open on Friday, brushing aside 30th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry with minimum fuss in his 100th match at the tournament.

The 10-time champion needed four sets to progress in each of his first two matches, against Dino Prizmic and Alexei Popyrin, but was never in trouble against the Argentine, cruising to a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) win.

“It was a great match, I think the best performance I have had during this tournament,” he said.

The world number one has been under the weather in Melbourne, regularly blowing his nose during changeovers.

Qualifier Maria Timofeeva, at No. 170, became the lowest-ranked woman into the Australian Open fourth round since 2017 when she upset 10th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, 7-6 (9/7), 6-3.

She joins another young Russian, Mirra Andreeva, 16, in the Last 16.

“It feels like a fairy tale,” she said.

US Open champion Coco Gauff also signalled her intent in a 6-0, 6-2 romp over Alycia Parks while Andreeva kept her dream run going with a fightback against France’s Diane Parry, 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10/5).

Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner emphatically stated their Australian Open title credentials by surging into the fourth round.

Sabalenka was unstoppable in a 6-0, 6-0 win over 28th seed Lesia Tsurenko on Rod Laver Arena.