Australian Open: Nadal, Zverev through to third round

Melbourne, Jan. 23 (IANS): Spanish world no.1 Rafael Nadal on Thursday eased into the third round of the Australian Open to set up a match against compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta. Nadal beat Argentina's Federico Delbonis 6-3, 7-6, 6-1 in a match that lasted two hours and thirty minutes at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

The win also means that chances of Nadal facing Australian Nick Kyrgios in the fourth round remain alive. The pair have had a few fiery encounters in the past, most notably in a four-set thriller at the 2019 Wimbledon in which Nadal prevailed.

Local favourite Kyrgios downed France's Giles Simon 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in a match that lasted 11 minutes under three hours.

German world no.7 Alexander Zverev also progressed to the third round where he will face Spaniard Federico Verdasco. Zverev beat Belarus' Egor Gerasimov 7-6, 6-4, 7-5 on Thursday.

Czech world no.2 Karolina Pliskova beat Germany's Laura Siegemund in straight sets to set up a third round match against Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Romanian world no.4 Simona Halep beat Briton Harriet Dart in straight sets and will face Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva in the third round.

Sania Mirza exits Australian Open with calf injury
Indian tennis star Sania Mirza's campaign at the Australian Open came to an abrupt end on Thursday after she retired mid-way into her women's doubles first-round match with an injury.

Mirza and her Ukranian partner Nadiia Kichenok were trailing 0-1 in the second set against the Chinese pair of Xinyun Han and Lin Zhu when the Indian was forced to retire due to a calf injury. The Indo-Ukranian pair had lost the first set 2-6.

Mirza, who had injured her leg during practice, went into the match with heavy strapping and didn't look comfortable throughout the 33 minutes the match was played.

The 33-year-old had earlier pulled out of the mixed doubles event -- where she was supposed to partner with compatriot Rohan Bopanna -- following the same injury.

Former doubles No.1 Mirza and Kichenok had last week won the Hobart International title after defeating second-seeded Chinese duo Peng Shuai and Zhang Shuai 6-4, 6-4 in the final.

Three-time doubles Grand Slam winner Mirza has returned to competition after a two-year hiatus, initially due to injuries and then welcoming her son in October 2018.

The Indian star last won a trophy alongside Bethanie Mattek-Sands at the Brisbane International in the first week of the 2017 season, one of three doubles finals she reached that year before announcing her pregnancy in April of 2018.

Medvedev, Pliskova advance to 3rd round
Daniil Medvedev of Russia set aside several unexpected issues that might have rattled some players but not him as he defeated Spanish qualifier Pedro Martinez 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 to reach the third round of the Australian Open on Thursday.

The roof of the Margaret Court Arena had to be closed in the second game of the match, but it didn't throw off Medvedev as he made sure he his concentration didn't get affected as he completed the victory in about two hours and 10 minutes.

The Russian will now face Jaume Munar or Alexei Popyrin on Saturday.

Meanwhile, in women's singles, former World No.1 Karolina Pliskova eased into the third round defeating Laura Siegemund 6-3, 6-3.

Pliskova, who defeated 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams en route to her first semifinal in Melbourne 12 months ago, overcame a slow start against Siegemund and advanced after 86 minutes at the Rod Laver Arena.