Noskova, top 50 at 19, benefited from the retirement of the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (23rd), injured in the back, after only three games. Manipulated in the lower back after two games, Svitolina, unable to serve and in tears, gave up after the next game, at 3-0 in favor of Noskova, after 23 minutes of the match. Noskova had toppled world No.1 Iga Swiatek in the previous round.
Yastremska overcame Belarusian Victoria Azarenka (22nd) 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 in the round of 16. Having gone through qualifying to secure a place in the main draw, the 23-year-old Ukrainian has just won her seventh match on the courts of Melbourne Park. “It’s as if my heart was going to come out of my body,” rejoices Yastremska. “During the match, I imagined almost 25 times that I was going to lose, I was trailing in the first set, in the tie-break, in the second… I had the impression of always being chasing the train.” Before the Australian fortnight, Noskova had never progressed beyond the second round at a Grand Slam, and Yastremska the round of 16.
