Naomi Osaka survives scare to reach Australian Open fourth round

Osaka has now set up a clash against Anastasija Sevastova for a place in the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Image Courtesy: Reuters

U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka survived a huge scare against Hsieh Su-wei as she rebounded strongly from a set down to clinch a 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 win over the Taiwanese in the third round of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Saturday.

The Japanese fourth seed was driven to distraction by double-sided Hsieh`s angled shots and stout defence, and was staring down the barrel at 4-2 in the second set at Margaret Court Arena.

However, Hsieh`s serve soon crumbled and Osaka claimed 10 out of the last 11 games to close out the match in a barrage of power hitting. 

With the win, Osaka has now set up a clash for a quarterfinal place against Anastasija Sevastova, who has also stormed into the fourth round of the first major of the season following a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 triumph over China's Wang Qiang. 

In another women's singles clash, Elina Svitolina of Ukraine also bounced back from the first-set down to seal a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 win against Chinese player Zhang Shuai and storm into the last-16 of the tournament. 

Svitolina will now face the winner of another third-round clash between America's Madison Keys or Belgium's Elise Mertens.

(With inputs from Reuters)