Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round showdown with Emma Raducanu in the Australian Open on Thursday while Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title.

Later on day five in Melbourne, men’s defending champion Jannik Sinner and last year’s runner-up Daniil Medvedev will both be in action.

Medvedev is looking to avoid becoming the third top-10 player to be knocked out by a teenager when he faces Learner Tien, 19, of the United States.

Another rising star in Joao Fonseca, 18, faces unseeded Italian Lorenzo Sonego.

Women’s second seed Swiatek raced past world number 49 Rebecca Sramkova 6-0, 6-2 while Britain’s Raducanu reached the third round for the first time in Melbourne by beating Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-5.

“I felt really solid today and it was a really efficient game,” said Poland’s Swiatek.

Her victory sets up a high-profile clash against the 2021 US Open winner for a place in the last 16.

Raducanu, seeking to climb up the rankings after an injury-hit 2024, said she was looking forward to the challenge of playing against the five-time Grand Slam champion.

“It will be a very good match for me. It’s an opportunity to test my game, see where I’m at,” she said.

Elena Rybakina, the sixth seed and former Wimbledon champion, powered past American wildcard Iva Jovic in straight sets.

Emma Navarro, the eighth seed from the United States, will face Ons Jabeur next after battling through three sets to beat China’s 108th-ranked Wang Xiyu.

The Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio.

“Very, very tough to breathe,” she said, adding that she may not have continued if she had lost the first set.

Fourth seed Jasmine Paolini faces Renata Zarazua of Mexico to round off the night on Rod Laver Arena.

Fired-up Fritz

Fritz scorched through to a third-round clash against Gael Monfils with another emphatic win and has dropped just eight games in the tournament so far.

The American fourth seed was untouchable on Margaret Court Arena, swatting aside Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 in 82 minutes.

Fritz only gave up five games to blitz past Jenson Brooksby in the first round and has spent barely three hours on court.

“Always feels great to come out and play a match like that,” said Fritz, last year’s US Open finalist and yet to drop serve in his pursuit of a first major crown.

“I played well in my first round too so I’ll be high on confidence going into the third round.”

Australia’s main hope Alex de Minaur dismantled American Tristan Boyer in straight sets.

Italian world number one Sinner won his first-round clash in straight sets and will hope for another quick victory when he takes on Australian wildcard Tristan Schoolkate.

By contrast, Russian firebrand Medvedev seems to like winning the hard way.

Four of his seven matches in Melbourne went the full distance a year ago, including his defeat in the final to Sinner.

And he needed another marathon to beat the 418th-ranked Kasidit Samrej on Tuesday in the first Grand Slam of the year.

Fifth seed Medvedev was 3-5 behind and on the brink of going two sets to one down against the Thai player when he saw red, slamming his racquet into the net camera repeatedly until they were both in bits.

Inter Milan were held to a 2-2 home draw by Bologna in Serie A on Wednesday, with the visitors snapping Simone Inzaghi’s side’s six-game winning run.

Bologna took a shock lead after 15 minutes when forward Santiago Castro deflected the ball into the net from close range before the hosts fired back four minutes later through defender Denzel Dumfries from a rebound.

Lautaro Martinez gave Inter the lead in first-half stoppage time with a superb shot into the roof of the net, but Emil Holm levelled for Bologna in the 64th minute after his low strike deflected off Inter’s Nicolo Barella and bounced in off a post.

Inter, who last week lost the Italian Super Cup final against AC Milan, remained second in the standings on 44 points, and trail leaders Napoli by three points.

They still have a game in hand after their December fixture at Fiorentina was suspended when midfielder Edoardo Bove collapsed before undergoing heart surgery.

Champions League side Bologna, also with a game in hand, are eighth on 30 points.

Inter last dropped points in the league when they were held to a 1-1 home draw by Napoli on Nov. 10.

The visitors were off to a quick start thanks to Castro, who provided the last touch after Bologna midfielder Nikola Moro unleashed a shot from outside of the box.

Inter were even quicker to respond, with Dumfries scoring low inside the far post in the 19th minute.

Marcus Thuram recovered the ball on the halfway line before leaving it inside the box for Federico Dimarco, who forced Bologna goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski into a terrific save before the Dutch defender netted on a follow-up.Martinez put Inter up 2-1 just before the interval from Dimarco’s neat horizontal pass from the left flank that the Argentine striker netted with first touch.

The hosts were deservedly leading at the break but slowed down their pace significantly after the restart.
After Bologna’s Sweden defender Holm equalised, Inter struggled to threaten Skorupski for another goal and ended up settling for a draw.

Inter host 14th-placed Empoli on Sunday ahead of their trip to Sparta Prague in the Champions League next Wednesday.
Bologna next host bottom side Monza on Saturday before welcoming Borussia Dortmund in Europe’s elite club competition on Tuesday.

A bad bout of asthma nearly derailed the comeback of former world number two Ons Jabeur at the Australian Open on Thursday, with the Tunisian saying she found it hard to breathe and nearly gave up in her second-round victory.

The 30-year-old three-time Grand Slam finalist is aiming to get back to the top after a shoulder injury last year threatened her career.

But she said asthma was now becoming an issue.

Jabeur, ranked 39, needed a medical timeout on her way to a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio for treatment and to use an inhaler.

“Very, very tough to breathe. When I was younger, I was diagnosed with asthma,” she said, adding that she may not have continued if she had lost the first set.

“It is very tough to play. I had to kind of not play long rallies.

“Not the best opponent when you are in this condition, but I apologised at the end of the match because I really don’t want to behave like this on the court.”

Jabeur said she doesn’t usually talk about her asthma problem.

“We will have to manage, you know, like we always do,” she said.

“I think I will have to find a way to feel better the next two days, which I am hoping to do because this started kind of two days or three days ago. I feel like it got worse for some reason.

“I’m really just taking it one minute at a time and see how it’s going to go, but definitely I’m doing everything that I can to be ready.”

She faces a tough third-round clash against American eighth seed Emma Navarro, who came back from the brink to beat China’s 108th-ranked Wang Xiyu in three sets.

Jabeur won their only previous meeting, 6-3, 6-2, on clay in Navarro’s hometown of Charleston in 2022.