Elise Mertens will face Madison Keys in the third round after both players earned straight-sets victories on day four of the 2019 Australian Open.
The Belgian beat Margarita Gasparyan 6-1 7-5, while the American eased to a 6-3 6-4 win over Anastasia Potapova.
Their encounter is an intriguing prospect because they are close in the rankings (World No.12 and World No.17) and, while they are both highly-skilled, they have markedly different game styles.
Keys is an excellent server who relies primarily on her power hitting. Mertens is a touch player with great hand skills and very good defensive abilities.
They met once before, at the 2017 US Open, and on that occasion the American won 6-3 7-6(6). But the Belgian was only ranked 39 at the time and she has improved a lot since, so she may be a far tougher opponent this time.
Nevertheless, although Mertens is the higher-ranked player, Keys should be considered the slight favourite to win as she has reached three Grand Slam semi-finals while the Belgian has played just one – at the Australian Open last year.
Sevastova to take on Wang
There is another potentially close third-round clash on the horizon. 13th seed Anastasia Sevastova is due to meet 21st seed Qiang Wang after both players won their second round matches.
The Latvian withstood a second-set comeback from rising star Bianca Andreescu to come through 6-3 3-6 6-2 in a tense encounter that lasted over two hours. Meanwhile, the Chinese player won more easily as she beat Aleksandra Krunic 6-2 6-3 in just 58 minutes.
If Wang wins, it will represent a significant step in her career as she is yet to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam. However, Sevastova is the more likely victor as she has advanced to the last 16 at a major on four previous occasions.
28th seed Su-Wei Hsieh is also through to the third round. She beat Victoria Azarenka’s conqueror Laura Siegemund 6-3 6-4.
