Australian Open 2019: Elina Svitolina and Karolina Pliskova progress to third round

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Elina SvitolinaImage source, Getty Images
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Elina Svitolina reached the quarter-finals in Melbourne last year

Australian Open 2019

Venue: Melbourne Park Dates: 14-27 January

Coverage: Daily live commentaries on the BBC Sport website, listen to Tennis Breakfast daily from 07:00 GMT on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and watch highlights on BBC TV and online from 19 January.

Elina Svitolina reached the Australian Open third round with a straight-set win over Viktoria Kuzmova but was left feeling awkward when asked about her relationship with Gael Monfils.

The Ukrainian sixth seed, 24, came through a closely contested opening set to win 6-4 6-1 on Rod Laver Arena.

After her win, Svitolina was asked on court about French player Monfils, who was watching from her courtside box.

"We are here for tennis, so that's why it was a bit strange," she said later.

"I didn't really expect to be asked that because I just finished my match.

"He's there for me, he's supporting me, and I'm there for him as well. He understands, I understand, what we're going through. It's great."

Svitolina will face China's Zhang Shuai next.

Osaka 'not telling' over ailment

US Open champion Naomi Osaka was made to work harder than she may have wanted, coming from a break down in the second set to win 6-2 6-4 against Slovenia's Tamara Zidansek.

The Japanese called on the trainer and took medication when leading 2-1 in the second set but would not reveal what had been troubling her.

"I was able to finish and win the match, so it's not that big of a deal," the 21-year-old said.

"It's something that I have to keep an eye on. I'm not telling you, though.

"You'll never guess. You'll never find out," she smiled.

Who else went through on Thursday?

Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams booked her place in the third round with a 6-3 4-6 6-0 victory over France's Alize Cornet.

The American 38-year-old's victory came despite a huge 40 unforced errors and sets up a third-round meeting with world number one Simona Halep.

Czech seventh seed Karolina Pliskova recovered from losing the opening set to beat American Madison Brengle 4-6 6-1 6-0 on Melbourne Arena.

American Madison Keys, who reached the semi-finals four years ago, set up a third-round meeting with Belgium's Elise Mertens after easing past Russian Anastasia Potapova 6-3 6-4.

Mertens, a semi-finalist in Melbourne herself last year, had earlier beaten Russia's Margarita Gasparyan 6-1 7-5.

Latvian 13th seed Anastasija Sevastova was taken to three sets by Canadian qualifier Bianca Andreescu, eventually winning 6-3 3-6 6-2.

Meanwhile, China's Wang Qiang and Italy's Camila Giorgi took less than an hour to book their third-round spots, beating Serbian Aleksandra Krunic 6-2 6-3 and Polish qualifier Iga Swiatek 6-2 6-0, respectively.

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