PLAYER OF THE DAY: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova - the Russian snapped a run of six straight defeats to Karolina Pliskova to send the world No.2 crashing out in the third round with a shock 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3) victory.
STAT OF THE DAY: World No.1 Rafael Nadal thumped Pablo Carrena Busta 6-1 6-4 to extend his unbeaten run against fellow Spaniards to 18 matches since he lost to Fernando Verdasco in the first round at Melbourne Park in 2016.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "There are upsets and I think it's normal because, yeah, it's tennis and tennis is very unpredictable. I don't know. I don't really care so much now who is going to win." - Swiss sixth seed Belinda Bencic after joining the exodus of stars from the women's event with a 6-0 6-1 mauling at the hands of Anett Kontaveit.
TOURNAMENT SUMMARY: The women's draw has been blown wide open with Pliskova and Bencic following 2019 champion Naomi Osaka and seven-times winner Serena Williams out the exit gates. But fourth-seeded Wimbledon champion Simona Halep joined world No.1 Ashleigh Barty in the second week with a 6-1 6-3 rout of Yulia Putintseva. Nadal and fifth seed Dominic Thiem progressed without fuss to the last 16 of the men's event.
Australian Associated Press
