The Latest: French Open champion Muguruza into 4th round


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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Latest from the Australian Open on Friday (all times local):

11:30 p.m.

French Open champion Garbine Muguruza has advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Anastasia Sevastova.

The pair had played twice before — both on hardcourts last year — and Muguruza won them both in straight sets.

Muguruza has matched her best previous results in Melbourne. She lost in the fourth round in 2014 to Agnieszka Radwanska and in 2015 to eventual champion Serena Williams.

The seventh-seeded Muguruza will next play Sorana Cirstea, who beat American Alison Riske 6-2, 7-6 (2) earlier Friday.

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11:10 p.m.

Roger Federer and Tomas Berdych continued their 12-year rivalry on the tennis court with a predictable result — a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 victory for Federer.

The 17-time Grand Slam winner won for the 17th time in 23 matches against Berdych and handed the Czech player his sixth consecutive loss between the pair.

The 10th-seeded Berdych had beaten Federer twice previously at Grand Slams, and he was considered a big threat to the 17th-seeded Federer, whose ranking has dropped following six months off because of a left knee injury.

But Federer looked completely at ease and never faced a break point in the Rod Laver Arena match.

Federer will play Kei Nishikori in the fourth round.

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10:10 p.m.

Kei Nishikori advanced to the fourth round at the Australian Open for the sixth straight year with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over Lukas Lacko, a qualifier ranked 121st.

The 2014 U.S. Open finalist has not lost to a player ranked outside the top 100 since he was beaten by 179th-ranked qualifier Daniel Evans in the first round at the 2013 U.S. Open.

Fifth-seeded Nishikori will next play the winner of Friday's later match between 17-time major winner Roger Federer and Tomas Berdych.

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8:55 p.m.

Daniel Evans reached the fourth round at the Australian Open for the first time and achieved his best Grand Slam result with a 7-5, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3 ) win over Bernard Tomic, knocking the last Australian male out of the singles draw.

The match was suspended in the 10th game of the third set on Evans' serve when heavy rain began to fall, forcing organizers to close the roof on Hisense Arena.

Evans took a 5-3 lead in the tiebreaker, set up match point with a reflex volley winner, then clinched it when Tomic netted a forehand.

Evans, who lost the Sydney International final last week to Gilles Muller, has had a tough time in previous years at the Australian Open. He qualified for the main draw but lost in the first round last year, and lost in the second round of qualifying in both his two other attempts to qualify in 2010 and 2014.

The 26-year-old Evans will play 2008 Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round.

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7:10 p.m.

Duan Yingying's first look at Venus Williams on a tennis court was a short one: Williams beat the Chinese player 6-1, 6-0 in 59 minutes to open the night program at Margaret Court Arena.

Duan said after her second-round win that she'd never seen the veteran American play, and that she'd rely on her coach to analyze video footage of some of Williams' past matches.

Any advance scouting didn't appear to help.

Williams will next play the winner of Friday night's match between Mona Barthel and Ash Barty.

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5:55 p.m.

Former Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is back in the round of 16 after defeating Jack Sock 7-6 (4), 7-5, 6-7 (8), 6-3.

Sock and compatriot Sam Querrey were the last American men left in the draw and both lost within moments of each other on Friday. Querrey was defeated by No. 1 Andy Murray.

Tsonga, the 12th seed, maintained his impressive streak against American opponents at Grand Slam tournaments — he's won 11 straight matches since Andy Roddick beat him at the 2007 Australian Open.

Tsonga lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2008 final at Melbourne Park.

The last two Tsonga wins came against Sock — he also knocked Sock out of the U.S. Open last year in the round of 16.

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5:50 p.m.

U.S. Open champion Stan Wawrinka has advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open, overcoming a slow start to beat Viktor Troicki 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7) at Rod Laver Arena.

Wawrinka, the 2014 champion at Melbourne Park, reached the round of 16 for the fifth consecutive year. It was his eighth win in a row over Troicki.

The fourth-seeded Wawrinka served for the match at 5-4 and again at 6-5, but was broken by Troicki.

Wawrinka will next play Andreas Seppi, who beat Steve Darcis earlier Friday.

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5:40 p.m.

Five-time finalist Andy Murray is through to the fourth round of the Australian Open for the ninth straight year, beating Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.

Murray didn't appear to show any side effects from the right ankle injury he sustained during his last match.

At 4-4 in the first set, Murray broke Querrey's serve, the final shot coming when the Scotsman lifted a lob over the head of the 1.98-meter (6 foot-6) Querrey. The ball dropped well inside the baseline and Murray held serve in the next game to clinch the first set.

Murray, who will next play Mischa Zverev, has lost every final he has contested at Melbourne Park, four of them to Novak Djokovic. Djokovic lost in the second round on Thursday, leaving the opposite side of Murray's draw wide open.

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3:20 p.m.

It was third time lucky for Svetlanta Kuznetsova at the Australian Open — she served for the match three times before beating Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 5-7, 9-7 to advance to the fourth round.

Kuznetsova, who won the 2004 U.S. Open and the 2009 French Open, served for the match at 5-4 in the second set and again in the third but was broken both times by former No. 1 Jankovic.

She broke Jankovic's serve at 8-7 in the third, then held service on four consecutive points to clinch the match in 3 hours, 36 minutes.

Kuznetsova will next play another Russian, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat Elina Svitolina 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

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3:00 p.m.

Defending champion Angelique Kerber won the first eight games and went on to beat Kristyna Pliskova 6-0, 6-4 to advance to the fourth round.

Kerber, who beat Pliskova's twin sister, Karolina, in the U.S. Open final last year, next plays American CoCo Vandeweghe, who beat former semifinalist Eugenie Bouchard earlier Friday.

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1:35 p.m.

American CoCo Vandeweghe is the first woman through to the fourth round at Melbourne Park, defeating former semifinalist Eugenie Bouchard 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

Vandeweghe rallied from a break down in the third set and fought off four more break points at 4-all before closing out the match in 2 hours, 22 minutes. She reached the fourth round at the Australian Open for the first time.

Vandeweghe's new doubles partner, Martina Hingis, cheered her on throughout the match. Afterward, the American joked that Hingis might scold her for playing "too long to be fresh for the doubles."

The American is ranked higher than Bouchard, but the Canadian has been playing well and aiming to get back to the fourth round at a major for the first time since 2015.

Vandeweghe next plays the winner between top-seeded Angelique Kerber and Kristyna Pliskova, who play later Friday.

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11:15 a.m.

A rainy morning gave way to mostly cloudy skies on Friday as defending champion Angelique Kerber and top-seeded Andy Murray prepare for their third-round matches at the Australian Open.

Kerber was scheduled to play Kristyna Pliskova in a Rod Laver Arena match, while Murray, who injured his ankle in his second-round match, was set to play Sam Querrey at Hisense Arena.

Four-time champion Roger Federer, coming back from six months on the sidelines with a left knee injury, was set to play Tomas Berdych in a night match on Rod Laver. It will be the sternest test the 17-time major champion has faced since returning to tournament play.

Singles matches began on time on the main show courts.

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