Story highlights
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki through to the last 32 at the Australian Open
Denmark's world No. 1 will next play Romanian 31st seed Monica Niculescu
Third seed Victoria Azarenka also progresses with victory in third round
Defending champion Kim Clijsters on course for rematch with Li Na in round four
World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki had to admit to an embarrassing loss on Wednesday, but it won’t affect her chances of winning her first grand slam title at the Australian Open.
The Dane’s post-match press conference was delayed because the 21-year-old misplaced her bag of clothes after a 6-1 7-6 (7-4) win over Georgia’s Anna Tatishvili that put her into the third round in Melbourne.
“I left it on the practice court. I went to hit a few minutes after the match, and I left it there. I didn’t have any more clothes. So I took a shower, and I’m looking for my bag and I couldn’t find it,” said Wozniacki, who will play Romanian 31st seed Monica Niculescu in the last 32.
“Thankfully, one of the locker room ladies was nice enough to go out and look for it, and it was there.”
Nadal into third round as Federer walks it
Wozniacki, who fired nine aces in an aggressive on-court display, then had to field questions about her golf star boyfriend Rory McIlroy, revealing that they try each other’s sports and that she is learning from his mental approach.
“It’s just about you can’t really do anything about the past. You just need to look forward. You have a tournament now, and you want to do the best you can. That’s it,” she said.
“Then if it goes well, it’s great. If not, you have the next one. It’s like tennis. So, you know, it’s just important not to dwell too much in the past. “
Wozniacki’s position at the top of women’s tennis is under threat in the next fortnight, with third seed Victoria Azarenka one of the players who can overtake her if she wins her first grand slam.
The Belarusian progressed with a 6-1 6-0 demolition of Australia’s Casey Dellacqua in Wednesday’s final women’s match, and will next play Germany’s Monica Barthel – who eliminated Czech 32nd seed Petra Cetkovska.
Last year’s runner-up Li Na continued her impressive start to 2012 with a 6-2 6-2 romp over Australia’s 20-year-old Olivia Rogowska in the day’s opening match.
China’s French Open titleholder will face Spanish 26th seed Anabel Medina Garrigues as she seeks to set up a fourth-round rematch with defending champion Kim Clijsters.
The Belgian 11th seed had few problems in beating France’s Stephanie Foretz Gacon 6-0 6-1 to earn a tie against Slovakian No. 20 Daniela Hantuchova.
Li or Clijsters could potentially face Wozniacki in the last eight.
Tenth seed Francesca Schiavone, the 2010 French Open champion, failed to match last year’s quarterfinal effort in Melbourne as she crashed out against fellow Italian Romina Oprandi, losing 6-4 6-3.
The 80th-ranked 25-year-old – who had never previously progressed past round two in a grand slam – will next face German 22nd seed Julia Gorges.
Chinese 16th seed Peng Shuai also exited, losing 6-2 6-4 to Czech Iveta Benesova – who earned a clash with Russian debutant Nina Bratchikova.
Former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic also won in straight sets to set up a meeting with American 19-year-old Christina McHale, with the Serbian 13th seed on course for a fourth-round clash with Wozniacki as she too continues her bid for a first grand slam title.
Polish eighth seed Agnieszka Radwanska also progressed into a third-round tie against Kazakhstan’s world No. 57 Galina Voskoboeva, who has matched her best performance at the tournament.