Australian Open | Halepová – Koviničová 6: 2, 6: 1, Healing Halepová is again in the round of 16 Australian Open

Former world number one Halep missed the Roland Garros and Wimbledon grand slam tournaments last year due to a calf injury, as well as the Tokyo Olympics. Now playing without restrictions, she has won the WTA Preliminary Tournament in Melbourne and added three more winning matches at the season’s grand slam.

“I feel great physically, first of all. And after the mental one, I believe in myself and I’m strong, I’d say,” said Halep, 30, after playing Kovinicova in 64 minutes. “I’m happy with the game, which helps me be positive,” said the player, who got married last summer.

The two-time Grand Slam champion won eleven sets in a row and lost only twelve games at the Australian Open. “I’m playing great so far,” Halep said.

In the next match, the Romanian will run into Cornet, with whom she has a negative balance of 1: 3. The Frenchwoman already eliminated the third seeded Garbiňa Muguruzaová from Spain in the tournament and in the 3rd round she turned the match with the Slovenian Tamara Zidanšeková on the day of her 32nd birthday. “It’s magical, I’m very happy and I’m happy,” rejoiced Cornet, the 61st WTA singles player.

Unlike the previous duel with the home favorite Nick Kyrgios, the winner of the US Open Medvedev did not have to deal with the roar of a stormy audience, and he won the duel with Van de Zandschulp in less than two hours. “I’d say something like that. It’s easier to play with a guy from the Netherlands than with an Australian in Melbourne, Australia,” he said in an interview on the court, hoping to find a common ground with the fans. “Every good relationship has its ups and downs. And I hope there will be more good than bad, or it wouldn’t work,” he added.

Medvedev will compete for the quarterfinals with Maxim Cressy, who, after Tomáš Macháč, also defeated the domestic wild card holder Chris O’Connell. The 24-year-old American, who was eliminated in the second round at last year’s premiere in Melbourne, improved his grand slam maximum by advancing to the round of 16. He also played the second round at the US Open, he has not yet intervened in the main competition elsewhere.

In the last match of the day, Marin Čilič took care of the surprise, knocking out Andrej Rubljov’s tournament five. The 33-year-old Croatian defeated the Russian favorite 7: 5, 7: 6, 3: 6, 6: 3, defeating the Moscow native in a fifth duel for the first time in his career. The next opponent of the US Open 2014 winner will be another Top 10 player, Félix Auger-Aliassime from Canada.