CZECH-MATE: Linda Noskova stuns top seed Iga Swiatek; Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev advance

MELBOURNE, January 20

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Top seed Iga Swiatek tumbled out of the Australian Open today, losing 3-6 6-3 6-4 to Czech teenager Linda Noskova in the third round as her bid for a maiden title at Melbourne Park and fifth Grand Slam trophy fell apart.

The Pole, more accustomed to breezing past opponents with the odd “bagel” thrown in, had struggled in Melbourne, enduring a first-set tiebreak in her opener against Sofia Kenin before fighting back from the brink to oust Danielle Collins.

1 Linda Noskova became the first teenager to defeat a top-ranked player at the Australian Open since Amelie Mauresmo toppled Lindsay Davenport in 1999

Thing were looking up for her after a strong opening set but Noskova dug deep to become the first teenager to defeat the top-ranked player at the Australian Open since Amelie Mauresmo toppled Lindsay Davenport in 1999.

I’m speechless, I knew it was going to be an amazing match with the world No. 1, but I didn’t really think it would end up like this. Linda Noskova

Alcaraz breaks new ground

Carlos Alcaraz eased into the fourth round for the first time after Chinese wildcard Shang Juncheng retired hurt while trailing their uneven contest 6-1 6-1 1-0. In the unusual position of playing someone younger than himself, twice Grand Slam champion Alcaraz had simply dominated 18-year-old Shang for just over an hour.

Daniil Medvedev raced into the second week with a 6-3 6-4 6-3 victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime, showing few signs of fatigue after his late-night outing in the second round.

In other highilghts of the day, Victoria Azarenka beat 11th seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-1 7-5. Ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz beat France’s Ugo Humbert 3-6 6-1 7-6(4) 6-3. Cameron Norrie, the 19th seed, took out former world No. 2 Casper Ruud with a 6-4 6-7(7) 6-4 6-3. — Reuters