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Polish star Iga Swiatek and Britain's Emma Raducanu will square off in the third round of the Australian Open.
Five-time major winner Iga Swiatek will take on former US Open champ Emma Raducanu in a headline third-round clash at the Australian Open after the pair advanced with straight-sets victories.
Swiatek showed no mercy to outclass Slovak Rebecca Sramkova on Rod Laver Arena on Thursday, winning 6-0 6-2.
Sramkova won only 10 points in a lopsided first set, a tally she was able to match in the first four games of the second as she fought to make it more of a contest.
But the second-seeded Pole was keen to get the job done as quickly as possible on Rod Laver Arena, closing the contest out in just 60 minutes on her first match point.
"I felt very solid today, it was an efficient game," said Swiatek, 23, whose best showing at the Open was a run to the semis in 2022.
"I'm happy I kept my focus.
"Sometimes when it seems a bit easy, that may cause problems later because your focus might be gone."
Raducanu, 22, had to work considerably harder in her second-round encounter against close friend Amanda Anisimova before advancing 6-3 7-5.
"It's incredibly difficult whenever you play a friend, it adds another dimension to the match and not necessarily a pleasant one," said Raducanu, who created tennis history at the 2021 US Open when she became the first player - male or female - to win a major as a qualifier.
The 23-year-old Anisimova had advanced to the fourth round on three of her previous five visits to Melbourne Park.
"I thought I had nothing to lose and I came out swinging, and now I'm looking forward to playing Iga again," Raducanu said.
In other early matches on Thursday, former world No.2 Ons Jabeur from Tunisia completed a workmanlike 7-5 6-3 win over Colombian Camila Osorio.
Playing her 10th Open, Russian No.9 seed Daria Kasatkina equalled her best performance at Melbourne Park by cruising into the third round with a thumping 6-2 6-0 win over China's Wang Yafan.
Other leading women's seeds in action later on day five include No.4 Jasmine Paolini from Italy and 2022 Australian Open runner-up and American No.10 seed Danielle Collins, who takes on Australian Destanee Aiava.
