Australian Open Day 3: Bagelpova appears, Stosur and Cibulkova sinkd

Day 3 results:

Angelique Kerber def. Lucie Hradecka 6-3 6-1
Kirsten Flipkens def. Klara Zakopalova 6-1 6-0
Valeria Savinykh def. Dominika Cibulkova 7-6(8) 6-4
Agnieszka Radwanska def. Irina Camelia Begu 6-3 6-3
Julia Goerges def. Romina Oprandi 6-3 6-2
Madison Keys def. Tamira Paszek 6-2 6-1
Li Na def. Olga Govortsova 6-2 7-5
Heather Watson def. Ksenia Pervak 4-6 7-6(7) 6-2
Ekaterina Makarova def. Stephanie Foretz-Gacon 6-3 6-3
Zheng Jie def. Samantha Stosur 6-4 1-6 7-5
Jelena Jankovic def. Maria Joao Koehler 2-6 7-6(5) 6-2
Marion Bartoli def. Vesna Dolonc 7-5 6-0
Sorana Cirstea def. Kristyna Pliskova 1-6 6-3 6-2
Ana Ivanovic def. Chan Yung-Jan 7-5 1-6 6-4
Maria Sharapova def. Misaki Doi 6-0 6-0
Venus Williams def. Alize Cornet 6-3 6-3

Upset of the day:

Valeria Savinykh def. Dominika Cibulkova 7-6(8) 6-4

She's not the highest seed to lose today (we'll get to that later), but she is the most unexpected. Cibulkova lost to an unknown qualifier ranked 159 in the world. I have seen Savinykh play before and I was not impressed. She had nice fluid strokes but her shots just lack penetration. Dominika simply couldn't find the court today and with Valeria making her hit that extra ball, it was enough. What started out to be a promising 2013 campaign turned out to be disastrous for the Slovak. You have to wonder if she will ever break the top 10 with her ever fluctuating results.

Zheng Jie def. Samantha Stosur 6-4 1-6 7-5

Just as I predicted, Stosur goes down in 3 sets. You thought that Amelie Mauresmo was bad on her homeground, look at Stosur. She is just utterly useless in Australia. She must have mistaken her racket for a bat as she was hitting home-runs to the stands like nobody's business. Zheng has such a petite frame that you'd think Stosur would kick-serve her way to an easy victory. But brain-freeze Stosur just couldn't execute. If only Chang took her chances 2 days ago, we would have a higher quality and more entertaining match. Note to Stosur: withdraw from all Australian events from next year onwards.

Ana Ivanovic def. Chan Yung-Jan 7-5 1-6 6-4

Oh dear lord Ana... You were lucky to escape this time. Chan used the right tactics in the second set, going full on aggressive mode, but she couldn't finish the job. There's no doubt that Chan should have won this in two but credit has to be given to Ana for the fight shown. Ana really needs to improve that backhand of hers. It's just unnatural and laborious. Ana now faces her compatriot, Jelena Jankovic in the 3rd round. Both of them are not playing well and I am sure the match ain't gonna be pretty.

Heather Watson def. Ksenia Pervak 4-6 7-6(7) 6-2

I doubted Heather Watson but she has shown that she has some fight in her. Watson saves 3 match points in a match lasting over 3 hours. Pervak was done when she lost the tiebreak and crumbled easily in the 3rd set. This match wasn't pretty, but not everyone can play clean tennis all the time. Kudos to Heather for fighting her heart out and amid an injury cloud as well. However, this also means an easier passage for Radwanska, her next round opponent.

Maria Sharapova def. Misaki Doi 6-0 6-0

Ouch! This must have hurt. Maria Sharapova shows that she's a serious contender by handling another dreaded double bagel to her opponent. Misaki Doi was never in the match as she was thoroughly outhit and outplayed from the first ball. Sharapova now has won 24 games in succession and will face old rival, Venus Williams in the 3rd round. By the looks of it, Sharapova will definitely be the favourite; but replicating the scoreline will be difficult.