The WTA Tour, powered by Mercedes-Benz, has four Americans ranked in the top 10 – Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys. No other nation has more than one.
Perhaps not coincidentally, seven players from the United States reached the third round of this Australian Open. This is the first time that any country has taken seven players to the round of 32 here… America had done so in 2015.
Four of them will play in action from the bottom of the draw on Saturday.
Grand Slam champions Iga Swiatek and Naomi Osaka do the same. And then there are successful qualifiers Nikola Bartunkova, who ended Belinda Bencic’s 12-match winning streak, and Australian qualifier Maddison Inglis.
Let’s break down those eight quality matches:
No. 2 Iga Swiatek vs. No. 31 Anna Kalinskaya
Head-to-head: 2-1, Swiatek wins at 2025 Cincinnati and US Open; Kalinskaya wins at 2025 Dubai
The 24-year-old Swiatek – a six-time major champion – is still learning. This year’s project?
“My goal for this season is really to unplug a little bit better,” he told reporters. “I have to say that because of COVID, I didn’t really get the experience of playing a full season. I think 2024, I couldn’t do as well. So last year was the first season I got a chance to play from start to finish.
“Hopefully I’ll have more energy by the end of the season.”
However, there is plenty of early incentive for Swiatek to become only the seventh woman to achieve an individual Grand Slam.
But getting out of Kalinskaya won’t be easy. He has a remarkable record of 4-2 playing against the top 3 players. She is trying to reach the second week of a Grand Slam for only the third time in her career.
No. 4 Amanda Anisimova vs. Peyton Stearns
Head to head: 1-0, Stearns, 2025 Madrid
That result was on clay, which slows down Anisimova’s power game.
“She’s a great player,” Anisimova said of her fellow American. “Plays very physical tennis. It’s good to see her do well here. Yes, she will definitely bring some challenges. But I’m really looking forward to it.”
A win here and Anisimova will equal her best results achieved in Melbourne in 2019, 2022 and 2024. When she starts fast, it’s hard to stop her; The 24-year-old has won his last 17 Grand Slam matches after winning the opening set.
Stearns, ranked 68th and a former NCAA singles champion, is one win away from equaling her best major result at the 2023 US Open. His score against top 5 players is 0-4. Stearns has won nearly 85 percent of her points on first serve, more than any other woman.
No. 5 Elena Rybakina vs. Tereza Valentova
Head-to-Head: 1-0, Rybakina, 2025 US Open
Talking about last year, Rybakina is very sad. She has won 15 of her last 16 matches, losing only to Karolina Muchova in the Brisbane quarter-finals. Like Anisimova, she is the front-runner and has won 19 consecutive matches after winning the first set.
Valentova, the 18-year-old Czech, is at the opposite end of the experience spectrum, appearing in her first major third round.
She has won back-to-back matches at the WTA level for the third time in her career, after reaching the semi-finals in Prague and the final in Osaka last year. She was the fourth youngest woman to reach a WTA final in 2025, losing to Leyla Fernandez in Osaka.
No. 6 Jessica Pegula vs. Oksana Selekhmeteva
Head to head: 0-0
Pegula has lost only five games in two matches and has been on the court for the shortest amount of time (2 hours, 4 minutes). She was a 6–0, 6–2 winner in the second round over her doubles partner McCartney Kessler in Melbourne.
Oksana Selekhmeteva, ranked 101st, is facing a top 30 player for only the second time in her career. The first time out was on Thursday when she defeated No. 25 seed Paula Badosa.
This is her best Major to date (she was previously 0–4) and Selekhmeteva is attempting to win three consecutive WTA matches for the first time. She is one of two left-handed players left in the draw, along with Diana Schneider.
No. 9 Madison Keys vs. Karolina Pliskova
Head-to-Head: 1-0, Pliskova, 2020 Brisbane Final in three sets
That final was vintage Pliskova, when she finished in the top 10 six years in a row.
Now, at age 33 and after missing most of last year following ankle surgery, Pliskova dropped to 1057th. She has posted good wins over qualifiers Sloane Stephens and Janice Teigen, but Keys is on a different level.
She is the reigning champion, which comes with some perks.
“I feel like I’ve always had pretty good crowd support here,” Keys explained after defeating Ashlyn Krueger in the second round, “but I think it’s increased now, which is always great.” Emotions may have run a little high.
“I think in tough moments like today, losing in the second set, you have to remind yourself that you’ve been here before, you’ve got this figured out. I think when you’re able to do that in a place where you’ve had success, it feels like it makes it a little bit easier.”
“For sure, she’s going to be the favorite here. So I can only wonder, but let’s see. I have my weapons, and I think it could be a good match,” Pliskova said.
No. 13 Linda Noskova vs Wang Xinyu
Head-to-head: 1-0, Noskova, 2025 Prague Semifinals
You might be surprised to know that only two players have more than Wang’s seven match wins this year – Iva Jovic (nine) and Mira Andreeva (eight).
The 24-year-old Chinese player defeated No. 24 seed Jelena Ostapenko in three sets and is looking to equal the best Grand Slam result of her career.
“I think it’s definitely not going to slow down,” he said of Noskova, to which reporters laughed. “She plays very fast. She definitely likes the conditions here. I’ll try my best to be aggressive and attack first and I think that’s where my strengths are.”
The 21-year-old Noskova has now made the third round in her last three major matches and most recently lost to Muchova at the US Open.
No. 16 Naomi Osaka vs. qualifier Madison Inglis
Head to head: 0-0
“When was the last time I played an Australian player here?” Osaka wondered after a reporter’s question. “I feel like I remember playing [Ashleigh] Barty was here when we were both really little. That was my last memory.”
And a good one. That was 2018 – No. 72-ranked Osaka defeated Australia’s No. 17 seed in straight sets – a year before she won her first Australian title. Osaka has won three-set matches twice, but Inglis was given a tough test after losing 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-6 to Laura Siegemund in a match that lasted 200 minutes.[10-7].
It has been four years since the 28-year-old played in the main draw here and he has made the most of it.
“I mean, tennis is brutal,” Inglis said. “You have some incredible moments and some really tough ones. To be in Melbourne at a Grand Slam, like, that’s my favorite tournament. I’m just so excited that I get to play another match here.”
No. 21 Elise Mertens vs. qualifier Nikola Bartunkova
Head to head: 0-0
Mertens is the third consecutive top 30 player the Czech teenager has faced – and she has beaten the first two, Bencic and Daria Kasatkina. After losing the second set to Bencic, Bartunkova bounced back to win the third set 6–4, recording the first top 10 win of her career.
Mertens has had success at this level, winning four of his six matches in the third round. She has lost only to players named Sabalenka and Keys. This is his most successful event with 22 wins and counting. He is 5-1 for 2026, losing only to Bencic in the United Cup.
Order of Play: Day 7 Australian Open
Rod Laver Arena
10:30 am local; 6:30 PM ET (Friday)
– Karolina Pliskova (CZE) vs. Madison Keys (USA) [9]
– Eliot Spizzeri (USA) vs. Jannik Sinner (ITA) [2] Not before 12 noon local; 8 pm et
7pm local; 3am ET (Saturday)
– Botic van de Zandschulp (NED) vs Novak Djokovic (SRB) [4]
– Naomi Osaka (JPN) [16] vs Maddison Inglis (AUS)
Margaret Court Arena
10:30 am local; 6:30 PM ET (Friday)
-Jessica Pegula (USA) [6] vs oksana selekhmeteva
— Peyton Stearns (USA) vs. Amanda Anisimova (USA) [4] Not before 12 noon local; 8 pm et
-Ben Shelton (USA) [8] vs Valentin Vacherot (Monday) not before 2:30 pm local; 10:30 pm ET
7pm local; 3am ET (Saturday)
–Anna Kalinskaya [31] vs. Iga Swiatek (POL) [2]
– Marin Cilic (CRO) vs. Casper Ruud (NOR) [12]
John Cain Arena
10:30 am local; 6:30 PM ET (Friday)
– Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) [5] vs. Tomas Machak (CZE)
– Elise Mertens (BEL) [21] vs Nikola Bartunkova (CZE) not before 12 noon local; 8 pm et
5pm local; 1 AM ET (Saturday)
– Stan Wawrinka (SUI) vs Taylor Fritz (USA) [9]
– Elena Rybakina (KAZ) [5] vs. Tereza Valentova (CZE)
Kia Arena
10:30 am local; 6:30 PM ET (Friday)
–Karen Khachanov [15] vs. Luciano Darderi (ITA) [22]
– Linda Noskova (CZE) [13] vs Wang Xinyu (CHN) not before 12 noon local; 8 pm et
– Match TBA
Not before 6pm local; 2 AM ET (Saturday)
– Jakub Mensik (CZE) [16] vs. Ethan Quinn (USA)
1573 arena
10:30 am local; 6:30 PM ET (Friday)
– Alexander Erler (AUT) / Robert Galloway (USA) vs. Harry Heliovara (FIN) / Henry Patton (GBR) [2]
– Corentin Moutet (FRA) / Luca Sanchez (FRA) vs. Marcel Granollers (ESP) / Horacio Zeballos (ARG) [3]
– Asia Muhammad (USA) / Erin Routliff (NZL) [6] vs. Shuko Aoyama (JPN) / Magda Linette (POL)
– Anna Blinkova / Kamila Rakhimova vs Hailey Baptiste (USA) / Peyton Stearns (USA)
– Erin Routliff (NZL) / Andre Goranson (SWE) vs. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) / Manuel Guinard (FRA)