Australian Open 2016 Results: Friday's Singles Bracket Winners, Scores, Stats
The women's draw at the 2016 Australian Open finally received a dose of stability Friday after a series of upsets over the first two rounds. Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska and Maria Sharapova all advanced to move within four victories of a Grand Slam title.
Things have been a little more straightforward on the men's side so far. That trend continued during Friday's action, but the level of competition did begin to rise with several contenders needing four sets to punch their ticket to the fourth round.
Let's check out all of the scores from the first half of Round 3. That's followed by a recap featuring some of the day's top storylines.
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Men's Friday Results
| 3 | (1) Novak Djokovic | (28) Andreas Seppi | 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 |
| 3 | (3) Roger Federer | (27) Grigor Dimitrov | 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 |
| 3 | (6) Tomas Berdych | (29) Nick Kyrgios | 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 |
| 3 | (7) Kei Nishikori | (26) Guillermo Garcia-Lopez | 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 |
| 3 | (9) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga | Pierre-Hugues Herbert | 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 |
| 3 | (24) Roberto Bautista Agut | (12) Marin Cilic | 6-4, 7-6, 7-5 |
| 3 | (14) Gilles Simon | Federico Delbonis | 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 |
| 3 | (15) David Goffin | (19) Dominic Thiem | 6-1, 3-6, 7-6, 7-5 |
Women's Friday Results
| 3 | (1) Serena Williams | Daria Kasatkina | 6-1, 6-1 |
| 3 | (4) Agnieszka Radwanska | Monica Puig | 6-4, 6-0 |
| 3 | (5) Maria Sharapova | Lauren Davis | 6-1, 6-7, 6-0 |
| 3 | (10) Carla Suarez Navarro | Elizaveta Kulichkova | 6-4, 2-0 Ret. |
| 3 | (12) Belinda Bencic | Kateryna Bondarenko | 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 |
| 3 | Anna-Lena Friedsam | (13) Roberta Vinci | 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 |
| 3 | Daria Gavrilova | (28) Kristina Mladenovic | 6-4, 4-6, 11-9 |
| 3 | Margarita Gasparyan | Yulia Putintseva | 6-3, 6-4 |
Day 5 Recap
Williams continues to roll right along as she seeks her 22nd career Grand Slam singles title. While her advancement to the fourth round obviously doesn't come as a surprise, the ease with which she's done it is promising after she dealt with some knee problems leading up to the event.
She completely dominated Daria Kasatkina from start to finish. The powerful American won 28 of 30 points on serve while also racking up six aces and 27 winners to go along with just eight unforced errors. That type of efficiency left the Russian, who won all four sets over the first two rounds, no chance.
Chris McKendry of ESPN further illustrated the one-sided nature of the match:
Sharapova was equally dominant in the two sets she won against Lauren Davis. The difference being a drop in form during the second set that allowed the 22-year-old American to take advantage in a tiebreak and force a third.
The 2008 Australian Open champion had 33 of her 42 unforced errors during that second set. She managed to advance anyway, but that type of dip in play won't be so easy to overcome moving forward, especially if she reaches the quarterfinals for a likely meeting with Williams.
Those encounters haven't gone well for Sharapova over the years, but she's done extremely well against the other players from the United States, as ESPN Stats & Info explained:
On the men's side, the clash between Roger Federer and Grigor Dimitrov featured some drama for the first two sets. Then the Swiss superstar found another gear and started playing like a 17-time major champion to avoid a serious upset bid.
Federer wasn't at his best for the entire match, as evidenced by his 55 unforced errors and five double faults, but he rose to the occasion just as it seemed Dimitrov started to pick up steam. That's something that simply comes with experience on the sport's biggest stages.
Vivienne Christie of the tournament's official site passed along comments from him about his mindset after dropping the second set.
"That was my goal, to react quickly after the second set because I struggled a little bit, but then found my way back, then was able to take charge of the match. It was important," Federer said. "I'm pleased. (It) wasn't easy. I didn't expect it to be against Grigor. It was a tough round, so I'm happy."
Tomas Berdych edged past Nick Kyrgios in the day's other high-profile clash. It served as an example of how much work the young Australian has left to do before competing for major titles.
Kyrgios posted some terrific numbers (18 aces and 42 winners), but he loses focus far too easily. This time, he complained about music coming from the spectators, which even managed to draw a negative response from his home crowd.
Fox Sports News noted his actions after the match ended:
The talent is there, no doubt about that, but he's still got some maturing to do before he's able to reach his intriguing potential.
Looking ahead to Day 6, the most interesting matchups come from the women's draw. Rising star Madison Keys takes on Ana Ivanovic with the winner having a great chance to reach the semifinals, and Victoria Azarenka will look to avoid becoming the latest upset victim of Naomi Osaka.
Two of the top contenders on the men's side will also be in action. Both No. 2 seed Andy Murray (vs. Joao Sousa) and No. 4 seed Stan Wawrinka (vs. Lukas Rosol) should advance, but their margin for error is certainly thinner than the previous rounds.
All stats courtesy of the tournament's official site.
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