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Australia’s last three singles survivors take to the court in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday.
Jelena Dokic’s defeat in the second round on Wednesday night has left fifth seed Samantha Stosur and wildcard entrants Alicia Molik and Bernard Tomic to fly the flag for the host nation at Melbourne Park.
Molik will meet Russian 13th seed Nadia Petrova, while Tomic is set to take on 31st-seeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez during the day session.
Stosur, who scored a commanding 6-1 6-1 victory over American wildcard recipient Lauren Davis in the first round, meets Russian world No.61 Vera Dushevina in the opening match of the night session on Rod Laver Arena.
Kim Clijsters will be looking to continue the impressive form which carried her to a 6-0 6-0 opening-round win over fellow former world No.1 Dinara Safina when she meets Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro in the second round.
Men’s world No.1 Rafael Nadal will play unseeded American Ryan Sweeting.
Following Stosur’s night match, crowd favourite and 2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis, of Cyprus, faces a tough second-round encounter against Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro.
Del Potro, who won the 2009 US Open and made the fourth round in Melbourne last year, is unseeded for this year’s event after his ranking plummeted as a result of a long-term injury absence.
Other stars to play second-round matches on Thursday include Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Robin Soderling, Jelena Jankovic and Vera Zvonareva.
Snapshot of day three of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Wednesday:
PLAYER OF THE DAY: Venus Williams – the women’s fourth seed returned from a medical time-out for treatment for a groin strain after losing the first set to power to a 6-7 (6-8) 6-0 6-4 second-round win over Sandra Zahlavova.
KEY MOMENT: From about four metres behind the baseline, Spanish ninth seed Fernando Verdasco rifled a remarkable forehand past net-rushing Janko Tipsarevic to save match point before squeezing past the Serb in five dramatic sets.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “It was an amazing experience, really amazing experience.” – Brit Elena Baltacha couldn’t be accused of being a sore loser after this gem in the wake of her 6-1 6-3 thrashing at the hands of former world No.1 Justine Henin.
STAT OF THE DAY: Williams’s gritty victory saved the once-powerful USA from a three-day wipeout in the women’s event.
TOURNAMENT SUMMARY: The big guns continue to roll on, with women’s world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, plus Henin, Williams, fellow grand slam champions Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Andy Roddick and Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych all safely progressing to the third round.
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