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Melbourne - Tournament dark horse Aryna Sabalenka continued to talk down her Australian Open chances as she advanced to the third round on Wednesday, preferring to knuckle down and concentrate on her next match.
The 11th seed's only previous appearance at Melbourne Park last year ended in a first-round elimination but the Belarusian swept past Britain's Katie Boulter 6-3, 6-4 to show how much she has improved in the past 12 months.
Bookies have installed the 20-year-old as one of the favourites in Melbourne on the back of sizzling recent form which saw her beat eight top 10 players late last season and win a title in Shenzhen this month.
The 20-year-old has previously dismissed title talk as "crazy" and said Wednesday she was not looking beyond her next match against unseeded American teenager Amanda Anisimova, an opponent she has never faced before.
"I just focus on each match. I just go match by match and we'll see. I'll do my best and who knows what will happen," she said.
"I just try to do better every match, improve all things and work harder. That's enough."
Results from Day 3 of the Australian Open on Wednesday:
Men's singles
Second round
Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE x14) bt Viktor Troicki (SRB) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5
Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO x19) bt Stefano Travaglia (ITA) 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
Tomas Berdych (CZE) bt Robin Haase (NED) 6-1, 6-3, 6-3
Andreas Seppi (ITA) bt Jordan Thompson (AUS) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
Diego Schwartzman (ARG x18) bt Denis Kudla (USA) 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4
Marin Cilic (CRO x6) bt Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 7-5, 6-7 (9/11), 6-4, 6-4
Frances Tiafoe (USA) bt Kevin Anderson (RSA x5) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5
Fernando Verdasco (ESP x26) bt Radu Albot (MDA) 6-1, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3
Karen Khachanov (RUS x10) bt Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) 6-3, 6-3, 6-3
Roger Federer (SUI x3) bt Daniel Evans (GBR) 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/3), 6-3
Taylor Fritz (USA) bt Gael Monfils (FRA x30) 6-3, 6-7 (8/10), 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5)
Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x22) bt John Millman (AUS) 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x20) bt Pablo Cuevas (URU) 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-5
Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) bt Reilly Opelka (USA) 6-7 (15/17), 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (10/5)
Alex de Minaur (AUS x27) bt Henri Laaksonen (SUI) 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (7/9), 4-6, 6-3
Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) bt Matthew Ebden (AUS) 6-3, 6-2, 6-2
Women's singles
Second round
Sloane Stephens (USA x5) bt Timea Babos (HUN) 6-3, 6-1
Petra Martic (CRO x31) bt Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) 6-4, 7-5
Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) bt Anett Kontaveit (EST x20) 6-3, 6-3
Caroline Garcia (FRA x19) bt Zoe Hives (AUS) 6-3, 6-3
Ashleigh Barty (AUS x15) bt Wang Yafan (CHN) 6-2, 6-3
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) bt Kiki Bertens (NED x9) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
Amanda Anisimova (USA) bt Lesya Tsurenko (UKR x24) 6-0, 6-2
Maria Sakkari (GRE) bt Astra Sharma (AUS) 6-1, 6-4
Danielle Collins (USA) bt Sachia Vickery (USA) 6-3, 7-5
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x3) bt Johanna Larsson (SWE) 6-1, 6-3
Kimberly Birrell (AUS) bt Donna Vekic (CRO x29) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
Petra Kvitova (CZE x8) bt Irina Begu (ROU) 6-1, 6-3
Belinda Bencic (SUI) bt Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) 7-5, 4-6, 6-2
Aryna Sabalenka (BLR x11) bt Katie Boulter (GBR) 6-3, 6-4
Angelique Kerber (GER x2) bt Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA) 6-2, 6-3
