Australian Open 2018 Schedule: Replay TV Coverage, Live Stream for Saturday
Novak Djokovic shrugged off a knock to overcome Albert Ramos Vinolas 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 in Round 3 of the Australian Open on Saturday.
The Serb, seeded 14th after a six-month injury layoff, did have the crowd concerned in the second set as he was forced to call a medical timeout. But he was sparkling in-play on the Margaret Court Arena, eventually breezing past his opponent.
The standout match on Saturday saw top seed Simona Halep save three match points to win an epic against Lauren Davis. After three hours and 45 minutes, the Romanian won 15-13 in a thrilling deciding set.
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In another eye-catching contest between former champions, Angelique Kerber continued her resurgence with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Maria Sharapova.
Read on for all the key information you need on where to rewatch another stunning day of tennis from down under and a reminder of the best moments from Saturday's schedule.
TV Info: Eurosport 1 (UK) and ESPN2 (U.S.)
Live Stream: Eurosport Player (UK), Tennis Channel Everywhere (U.S.), WatchESPN (U.S.)
Saturday Replay: Eurosport 1 from 1:30 p.m. (GMT), Tennis Channel from 12 p.m. (ET)
Full Results and Schedule: AusOpen.com
Djokovic Delivers
It took Djokovic a little bit of time to get into his match with Vinolas, as he saved an early break point on serve. However, with the score level at 2-2 in the opening set, the Serb moved up a gear, winning four games in succession to take the set.
In the second stanza, the six-time Australian Open champion continued to dominate, although there was a point when those in attendance feared an injury may be about to end Djokovic's chances.
But after he received treatment, the Serb was quickly back into the contest and producing moments like this, per Eurosport UK:
He won the second set with relative ease and was able to secure a crucial early break in the third. From that point on, it was always going to be an uphill struggle for Vinolas, who eventually succumbed to the relentless pressure from Djokovic.
Halep had a different type of battle in her match with Davis, as in the deciding set she failed to serve out the match on three occasions. She then found herself 11-10 down, facing three match points and on the brink of an early elimination.
Somehow the Romanian was able to find a way back to deuce and then to 11-11. Eventually, at the fourth time of asking and with a third-set lead of 14-13, the world No. 1 was able to close the contest out.
The tournament's official Twitter account summed up just how much energy Halep would've expended in the win:
Meanwhile, Halep's coach, Darren Cahill, shared the following snap of an exhausted top seed after her monumental encounter:
Many expected Kerber's clash with Sharapova to be another thriller, although Kerber, the champion here in 2016, made light work of the Russian, who was the winner in Melbourne back in 2008.
The German endured a challenging 2017, having won two Grand Slams a year before. But she's started this season in excellent fettle and made a potentially testing tussle decidedly easy, taking just over an hour to wrap the match up.
Indeed, Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times went as far as to say Kerber is the favourite to win the tournament:
Other notable results on Saturday included the shock elimination of fourth seed Alexander Zverev, who squandered a 2-1 set lead to lose to Hyeon Chung. The South Korean only surrendered three games in the final two sets and will be a challenge for Djokovic in Round 4.
Elsewhere, fifth seed Dominic Thiem enjoyed a routine win over Adrian Mannarino. Karolina Pliskova and Madison Keys, seeded sixth and 17th respectively, preserved their perfect form with straight-set wins in Round 3, too; neither player has dropped a set at the tournament yet.
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