Australian Open 2021: Women’s results on day three as seeds crash out

Ajla Tomljanovic had a golden opportunity to upstage world No.2 Simona Halep but the Australian fell agonisingly short, suffering another heartbreaking grand slam exit.

Australian Open tennis. 10/02/2021. Day 3. Serena Williams vs Nina Stojanovic on Rod Laver Arena. Serena Williams d

Ajla Tomljanovic knows this one is going to sting: another devastating grand slam exit as second seed Simona Halep produced an almighty escape to break the Australian’s heart.

The two-time grand slam winner dug deep and called on all of her championship qualities to reach the third round following a gruelling two-and-a-half hour three-set defeat.

For Tomljanovic, after leading 5-2 in the deciding set, this one will hurt enormously.

“Unfortunately this one feels like if I don’t wake up tomorrow and force myself to keep going and just put it behind me, it could sting for a while,” a shattered Tomljanovic said.

Watch over 40 live ATP Tour tournaments, 40 live WTA Tour tournaments, and every ATP + WTA Finals match live with beIN SPORTS on Kayo. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >

Ajla Tomljanovic blew a big lead in the third set against Simona Halep. Picture: Getty Images

“And I just don’t think it’s a smart road to go down because there’s naturally, as a human being, there’s reasons why it should linger and should maybe affect me negatively.

“But there’s also another way to look at it: three months ago I didn’t know if I was capable of playing a match like this.

“I’ve learned to share thoughts, feelings and not put it all on myself. It’s going to hurt for a few days but I’ll get back into training and playing next week.”

The 27-year-old had never beaten Halep, from four previous encounters. Never beaten a grand slam champion, nor a former world No.1 either – and it’s been seven years, when she made the fourth round of the 2014 French Open, since she’d progressed past the second round of a slam.

It would’ve been the biggest victory of her career. Instead, it will be one which will haunt her.

Because on Wednesday night, she could taste it. In a match that featured an incredible 15 breaks of serve, Tomljanovic played lights-out tennis, dominating the baseline rallies and mixing in beautiful drop shots, it was to be her night.

After the pair split the opening two sets, Tomljanovic – who spoke this week of needing to close out tight matches – made her move, surging to a 5-2 lead in the third.

But with the finish line in sight, and boyfriend – Italian ninth seed Matteo Berrettini – watching on from the stands, Tomljanovic again stumbled, losing five straight games in a stunning collapse, going down 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Simona Halep produced a stunning comeback against Ajla Tomljanovic. Picture: AFP

WILL SAD EXIT SIGNAL END FOR VENUS?

Each year the same question is asked — will this be the last time we see Venus Williams?

This time around it comes with an extra layer after the 40-year-old literally limped out of the Australian Open during an injury-marred second-round match against Italian Sara Errani.

Williams badly twisted her ankle and knee late in the first set on John Cain Arena. She could barely walk and was visibly overwhelmed with emotion as she took two medical time-outs.

With heavy strapping on both legs she bravely decided to continue but failed to win another game with Errani winning 6-1 6-0.

The seven-time grand slam champion has avoided putting an end date on her career which has spanned an incredible 26 years.

Errani summed up the feeling of the crowd afterwards: “I‘m really sorry for her, she is a really good champion and it’s an honour to play against her.”

Venus Williams receives treatment on her ankle during her second-round loss.

There were no such problems for her younger sister Serena who steamrolled Serbia‘s Nina Stojanovic 6-3 6-0.

Some errant underwear on her new catsuit and minor serving issue was the only thing worrying the No. 10 seed.

Williams, 39, admitted to being frustrated with her serve early in the match before finding a way to click into domination mode.

“Even with my serve, I over-think it,” she said. ”It‘s just like, I’m not hitting it. But when I don’t think about it and I’m just like, whatever, it goes in.

“But that‘s clearly not the way to do it. So it’s really about a balance.”

Another veteran also enjoyed a day out with Chinese Taipei‘s Su-Wei Hsieh upsetting No. 8 seed Bianca Andreescu 6-3 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena.

The 35-year-old, who is ranked No. 1 in the world for doubles, completely outplayed the Canadian with her unorthodox style and continued a love affair with Melbourne Park.

Hsieh gave a hilarious post-match interview after being asked about her age and how she keeps competing at the top level.

“Just let (me) remind you, in Asia we normally don’t say the girl’s age in public,“ she said.

Age certainly won‘t be an issue in her third-round clash with Errani who turns 34 in April.

Seven-time champion Serena Williams cruised into the third round.

AMERICAN PROVING QUARANTINE WHINGERS WRONG

She’s the anti-moaner, the player who has defied all the odds and prospered after hard lockdown.

While some of the biggest names in the sport have raised the white flag because of the tough quarantine measures, America‘s Ann Li has gone the other way and produced a career-best string of matches.

Li was one of the unlucky 72 who were forced into a 14-day hard quarantine after being on a COVID-19 infected plane from LA.

While two-time winner Victoria Azarenka and 2016 champion Angelique Kerber blamed lockdown for their early exits, Li won her seventh straight match on Wednesday since leaving her hotel room.

The 20-year-old made the final of warm-up tournament The Grampians Trophy (no final was played because of a scheduling issue) and is now through to the third round of the Australian Open.

Her latest victory came against fellow hard lockdown victim France‘s Alize Cornet who was the first to heavily criticise the situation when she arrived in Melbourne.

But Li has taken everything in her stride with the 6-2 7-6 win setting up a third-round clash with No.7 seed Aryna Sabalenka.

“For me in my head there was nothing you could do about it,” Li said. ”That‘s my personality, more chill and it is what it is.

“I tried not to think about it too much and just make the best of the situation.”

Ann Li has defied the odds to make the third round after quarantine.

The key for Li was getting into a daily routine. She worked out twice a day, at 9am, and again between 2-3pm with lots of kilometres spun on an exercise bike.

Her mattress was used as a backboard with lots of shadow swinging happening usually accompanied by loud music.

“I‘m glad the walls were thick, so nobody heard me all the time,” she said.

Li, who now has a career-high ranking of 69, felt an added layer of appreciation for tennis when she emerged and has fed off that over the past week.

“In a way it made it like a joy being on the court again because sometimes you can take it for granted,” she said.

“You need to go out there and have purpose every ball because now we just don‘t know when we might not be going to play or something like that.

“I also think because I worked out really hard in the quarantine and I stayed on top of my fitness, that helped me to mentally move on quickly.

“I didn‘t want to use it as an excuse.”

Romania's Sorana Cirstea enjoys her victory over Petra Kvitova.

KVITOVA ‘HURTING’ AFTER EARLY EXIT

A “hurting” Petra Kvitova refused to make excuses Wednesday after slumping out of the Australian Open with a tough three-sets loss to Sorana Cirstea in the second round.

The two-time Grand Slam winner hit back strongly after losing the first set, but her challenge fell apart as she went out 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 after 44 unforced errors and seven double faults.

Ninth seed Kvitova had dominated the match-up prior, winning five of their seven clashes, but a confident Cirstea was ruthless in the deciding set.

It was an impressive victory for the Romanian, who underwent hard quarantine and couldn’t leave her hotel room for 14 days.

Kvitova, whose quarantine allowed training blocks of five hours daily, rued missed opportunities.

“I think this match wasn’t really about the quarantine or just practising differently,” she said. “I should have taken the first set when I was leading a break … it would be a different story.

“I think that was really the key of the match. It was quite a rollercoaster.” The 2019 Australian Open finalist finished last year on a high, reaching the semi-finals of the French Open, but has had a difficult time after emerging from quarantine in Australia.

She won just one match at the warm-up Yarra Valley Classic before falling to Nadia Podoroska of Argentina in three sets.

“It’s a little painful and I’m really disappointed about my loss … really hurting” added Kvitova, 30. “I didn’t really bring the best tennis today.” Cirstea, ranked 68, plays Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic in the third round.