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Carla Suarez Navarro has overcome Australian Daria Gavrilova sending the Hopman Cup champion out of her home tournament in three sets 0-6, 6-3, 6-2.
REPORT: SUAREZ NAVARRO ENDS GAVRILOVA’S OPEN
Daria Gavrilova got off to the best possible start against Carla Suarez Navarro after racing away to take the first set 6-0 in just 25 minutes.
The Australian was well composed and did not allow her opponent to get into the game, terrorising the tenth seed in front of a packed Rod Laver Arena.
Suarez Navarro found form in the second set with it equally matched for the first four games before the Spaniard streaked in front by two games.
An injury timeout was called with Suarez Navarro sustaining an injury to her right knee however the tenth seed continued to go from strength to strength taking the second set 6-3.
Like the previous set, the third began with both players relatively equal on court however, Suarez Navarro once again sat back and watched Gavrilova crumble.
The Spaniard cruised through for a win in three sets and sets up a quarterfinal meeting with fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska.
Final score
Carla Suarez Navarro defeated Daria Gavrilova 0-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Can Daria Gavrilova continue her hot streak and make her way into the quarter-finals or will tenth seed Carla Suarez Navarro stop her run? Join The Roar from around 7pm (AEDT) for live scores and coverage.
Gavrilova will have the strong support of the crowd when she takes on Suarez Navarro in the fourth round and will be hoping that she can continue her good form that has seen her experience her best ever Australian Open campaign.
Gavrilova began 2016 at the Hopman Cup, the tournament in which she went on to win alongside Nick Kyrgios, defeating Sabine Lisicki and Elina Svitolina while falling in close matches at the hands of Caroline Garcia and Heather Watson.
The adopted Australian has shown she knows how to battle her way through a match following a string of convincing wins.
She began her campaign at Melbourne Park with a win in straight sets over Lucie Hradecka 7-6, 6-4 before setting up a match with sixth seed Petra Kvitova whom she performed extremely well against defeating in straight sets 6-4, 6-4.
Gavrilova’s performance was a surprise and the Aussie came out firing in her third round match against Kristina Mladenovic who was seeded 28th in the first grand slam of the year.
The Melbourne local who has adopted the nickname ‘Dasha’ won the first set before conceding the second and then enduring a monster 20-game third set to go on to win 6-4, 4-6, 11-9 in one of the most exciting matches of the women’s draw so far.
Seeded tenth, Carla Suarez Navarro has won seven of her last ten matches following exits at both the Brisbane and Sydney Internationals.
The Spaniard kicked off 2016 with a win over Australian Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1, 6-2 during the first round of Brisbane before going on to defeat another Australian in Samantha Stosur 6-1, 6-7, 6-4.
Suarez Navarro then defeated Varvara Lepchenko 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 to set up a semi-final with Angelique Kerber whom she fell to in straight sets 2-6, 3-6.
Following her strong tournament at Brisbane, the world No.11 travelled south to the Sydney International as a pitstop on her way to Melbourne Park however, the stay wasn’t long as she was eliminated during the first round at the hands of Sara Errani 3-6, 3-6.
She began her Australian Open tournament with a win in straight sets over Viktorija Golubic 7-5, 6-4 before turning out victorious over Maria Sakkari in the second round having dropped the first set 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 and accounting for Russian Elizaveta Kulichkova who retired in the second round 6-4, 2-0.
Suarez Navarro has not received a good test at the Australian Open so far which could serve as a disadvantage. She must shut out the crowd and fight back against Gavrilova ensuring she does not let her opponent break serve at any stage without breaking serve in retaliation.
The pair have only played each other once before with Carla Suarez Navarro triumphant during the second round of the 2014 Pan Pacific Open 7-6, 6-3. The meeting came on hard court.
The winner will face either fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska or Anna-Lena Friedsam in the quarter-finals.
Prediction
Daria Gavrilova will continue her charge at the Australian Open and progress to the quarter-finals in an incredibly tight match. She must however remain calm and confident throughout the whole match if she is to reach the finals of a grand slam for the first time on the WTA Tour.
Gavrilova in three sets.
Join The Roar for live score updates and debate in our live blog from around 7pm (AEDT) following the completion of world No.1 Novak Djokovic and Gilles Simon, and comment below if you’re watching the match.
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