The Albany Gazette - Swiatek destroys Raducanu, Monfils stuns Fritz at Australian Open

Later on day seven in Melbourne, Jannik Sinner will step up his title defence and young tyro Learner Tien is also in action.

In a one-sided battle of former US Open champions, Swiatek romped to a 6-1, 6-0 triumph in a statement victory as she pursues a first Melbourne crown.

Emma Navarro, the eighth seed from the United States, joined the Pole in the second week of the first Grand Slam of the year with a gritty three-set win over Ons Jabeur.

Sixth seed Elena Rybakina also advanced despite a back problem.

"I felt like the ball is listening to me," Swiatek said after rattling off 11 straight games in a brutal display against Britain's Raducanu on Rod Laver Arena.

The 23-year-old Swiatek is a five-time major winner but she has never gone beyond the semi-finals at Melbourne Park.

She faces world number 128 German Eva Lys next.

Lys beat Jaqueline Cristian of Romania in three sets to become the first women's singles "lucky loser" to reach the fourth round since the event moved to Melbourne Park in 1988.

Navarro credited her billionaire father for teaching her "toughness" as she clawed through 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 against three-time Slam finalist Jabeur.

No WTA player has played more three-set matches since the beginning of 2024 than Navarro, with the American having a 23-9 win-loss record over the distance since then.

Daughter of billionaire businessman Ben Navarro, founder of the Sherman Financial Group, she praised her dad, who was courtside, for her stamina.

She recalled how he would take her and her siblings on six-hour bike rides when they were kids.

"We made up a term -- biking and crying," Navarro, 23, said.

"I learned a lot of toughness growing up. A lot of thanks goes to him."

Also on day seven, former Wimbledon champion Rybakina of Kazakhstan needed a medical timeout to treat a back spasm before winning 6-3, 6-4 against Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine.

Asked if her back would be OK, she replied: "Not really. So I will see my physio and hopefully he does some magic."

American Danielle Collins, who has become the pantomime villain after thanking hecklers for "paying my bills", is also in action.

The world number 11, runner-up in the 2022 Australian Open final to Ash Barty, gets another chance to wind up the Australians in the crowd when she faces fellow American Madison Keys.

The winner faces Rybakina.

- Monfils magic -

Monfils rolled back the years to storm back and defeat the American Fritz 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4.

The unseeded Monfils, who hit a career-high ranking of six in 2016 but is now 41st, is enjoying a late-career flourish.

A week ago the flamboyant Frenchman became the oldest singles champion in ATP Tour history when he swept to victory at the Auckland Classic.

His best results at a major are semi-finals at the French Open and US Open in 2008 and 2016 respectively.

Monfils is married to Ukrainian Elina Svitolina who will look to emulate her husband's giant-killing efforts when she plays world number four Jasmine Paolini -- also on Margaret Court Arena

"I warmed up the court for her," joked Monfils.

Italian world number one and defending champion Sinner faces American Marcos Giron as he seeks a berth in the last 16 in an evening match on Rod Laver Arena.

Sinner could meet 13th seed Holger Rune in the fourth round if the Dane gets past Serbia's Miomir Kecmanovic.

There will be intense interest in 19-year-old qualifier Tien, who stunned three-time runner-up Daniil Medvedev in a five-set epic.

The youngster wolfed down a pepperoni pizza in celebration following his 4hr 48min marathon against Medvedev that finished at nearly 3:00am on Friday.

He will need to recover fast for the challenge of 69th-ranked Corentin Moutet of France.

Home hope Alex de Minaur, the eighth seed, went through in four sets against Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo and will face American Alex Michelsen for a place in the quarter-finals

(W.Williams--TAG)