In one of the most impressive performances to date at the 2020 Australian Open in Melbourne, Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, the 28th seed, only lost one game the entire match in defeating sixth ranked Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-0, 6-1 in the third round on Saturday. This will be the fourth time in Kontaveit’s career she has reached the fourth round as she also made the final 16 at the 2015 United States Open, 2018 Australian Open and 2018 French Open.
Kontaveit only needed 49 minutes to deliver the upset. Bencic had reached the semifinals in the last grand slam as she was in the final four in women’s singles at the 2019 United States Open.
In Kontaveit’s win over Bencic, she had 21 winners and only seven unforced errors. Bencic had 11 winners and 18 unforced errors. Kontaveit also won 55 of 82 total points. She will now play Poland’s Iga Swiatek next.
Two other women had dominant third round victories on Saturday. Unseeded Garbine Muguruza of Spain beat fifth ranked Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine 6-1, 6-2 and fourth ranked Simona Halep of Romania beat Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-1, 6-4.
Muguruza, who is coming off a remarkable climb of Mount Kilimanjaro, beat Svitolina in one hour and seven minutes. Muguruza had 31 winners and nine unforced errors and Svitolina had 12 winners and 12 unforced errors.
Halep won her third round match in one hour and 18 minutes. She had 26 winners compared to only 13 for Putintseva.
Halep and Muguruza will now play in the two most intriguing fourth round matches on the ladies side. Halep will play the 16th ranked Elise Mertens of Belgium and Muguruza will play the ninth ranked Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands.
Halep is a two-time Grand Slam champion, as she won the 2018 French Open and 2019 Wimbledon. Mertens’s best result at a major was a semifinal at the 2018 Australian Open.
Muguruza is also a two-time grand slam winner as she won the French Open in 2016 and Wimbledon in 2017. Like Mertens, Bertens’ best result at a major was a semifinal berth as she reached the final four at the French Open in 2016.
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