Australian Open Day 7 order of play: U.S. depth on display as the draw starts to compress
There are four Americans ranked in the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz Top 10 -- Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys. No other nation has more than one.
Perhaps not coincidentally, seven players from the United States advanced to the third round of this Australian Open. It’s the first time one country put seven through to the Round of 32 here since … America did it in 2015.
Four of them play on Saturday in action from the bottom half of the draw.
So do Grand Slam champions Iga Swiatek and Naomi Osaka. And then there’s breakthrough qualifier Nikola Bartunkova, who ended Belinda Bencic’s 12-match winning streak, and Aussie qualifier Maddison Inglis.
Let’s break down those eight quality matches:
No. 2 Iga Swiatek vs. No. 31 Anna Kalinskaya
Head-to-head: 2-1, with Swiatek winning at 2025 Cincinnati and the US Open; Kalinskaya prevailed at 2025 Dubai
At 24, Swiatek -- a six-time major champion -- is still learning. This year’s project?
“My goal for this season is actually to unplug a bit better,” she told reporters. “I’ve got to say that because of COVID, I didn't really get the experience of playing full seasons. I think 2024, I couldn't as well. So last year was the first season I got to play from the beginning till the end.
“Hopefully I'm going to have more energy till the end of the season.”
There’s plenty of early incentive, though, for Swiatek is trying to become only the seventh woman to achieve a personal Grand Slam.
But Kalinskaya won’t be an easy out. She’s forged a remarkable 4-2 record playing against Top 3 players. She’s trying to reach the second week of a Grand Slam for only the third time in her career.
No. 4 Amanda Anisimova vs. Peyton Stearns
Head-to-head: 1-0, Stearns, 2025 Madrid
That result was on clay, which muffles Anisimova’s power game.
“She's a great player,” Anisimova said of her fellow American. “Plays very physical tennis. It's good to see her doing well here. Yeah, she's for sure going to bring some challenges. But I'm really looking forward to it.”
A win here and Anisimova would equal her best result in Melbourne, achieved in 2019, 2022 and 2024. When she starts fast, she’s difficult to stop; the 24-year-old has won her past 17 Grand Slam matches after winning the opening set.
Stearns, ranked No. 68 and a former NCAA singles champion, is a win away from equaling her best major result, at the 2023 US Open. She’s 0-4 against Top 5 players. Stearns has won nearly 85 percent of her first-serve points, more than any other woman.
No. 5 Elena Rybakina vs. Tereza Valentova
Head-to-head: 1-0, Rybakina, 2025 US Open
Going back to last year, Rybakina is on a tear. She’s won 15 of her past 16 matches, losing only to Karolina Muchova in the Brisbane quarterfinals. Like Anisimova, she’s a terrific frontrunner, winning 19 straight matches when she takes the first set.
Valentova, the 18-year-old Czech, is at the opposite end of the experience spectrum, appearing in her first major third round.
She’s won consecutive matches at the WTA level for the third time in her career after reaching the semifinals in Prague and the final in Osaka last year. She was the fourth youngest woman to reach a WTA final in 2025, falling in Osaka to Leylah Fernandez.
No. 6 Jessica Pegula vs. Oksana Selekhmeteva
Head-to-head: 0-0
Pegula has dropped only five games in two matches and has been on court for the shortest time (2 hours, 4 minutes). She was a 6-0, 6-2 second-round winner over McCartney Kessler, her doubles partner in Melbourne.
Oksana Selekhmeteva, ranked No. 101, faces a Top 30 player for only the second time in her career. The first time out was Thursday when she upset No. 25 seed Paula Badosa.
This is by far her best major (she was previously 0-4) and Selekhmeteva is attempting to win three straight WTA matches for the first time. She’s one of two left-handed players remaining in the draw, joining Diana Shnaider.
No. 9 Madison Keys vs. Karolina Pliskova
Head-to-head: 1-0, Pliskova, 2020 Brisbane final in three sets
That final was vintage Pliskova, when she was in the midst of six consecutive year-end Top 10 finishes.
Now, at the age of 33 and after missing most of last year following ankle surgery, Pliskova came in ranked No. 1057. She’s put together nice wins over qualifier Sloane Stephens and Janice Tjen, but Keys is at a different level.
She’s the defending champion, which comes with a few perks.
“I feel like I've always had pretty good crowd support here,” Keys explained after beating Ashlyn Krueger in the second round, “but I think that's heightened now, which is always very nice. The emotions are maybe just a little bit more heightened.
“I think in those tough kind of moments like today, getting down in that second set, just kind of reminding yourself that you have been here before, you figured it out. I think when you're able to do that in a place where you have had success, it just feels like it comes a little bit easier.”
Said Pliskova, “Definitely, she's going to be the favorite here. So I can only surprise, but let's see. I have my weapons, and I think it can be a good match.”
No. 13 Linda Noskova vs. Wang Xinyu
Head-to-head: 1-0, Noskova, 2025 Prague semifinals
It might surprise you to know that only two players have more than Wang’s seven match-wins this year -- Iva Jovic (nine) and Mirra Andreeva (eight).
The 24-year-old from China just knocked out No. 24 seed Jelena Ostapenko in three sets and is looking to equal her best career Grand Slam result.
“I think it definitely is not going to get any slower,” she said of Noskova, drawing laughter from reporters. “She plays super fast. She likes the conditions here, for sure. I'm just going to try my best to be aggressive first and to attack first, and I think that's where my strength is at.”
Noskova, 21, has now made the third round in her past three majors, losing only the most recent one, to Muchova at the US Open.
No. 16 Naomi Osaka vs. qualifier Maddison Inglis
Head-to-head: 0-0
“When is the last time I played an Aussie here?” mused Osaka after a reporter’s question. “I feel like I remember playing [Ashleigh] Barty here when we were both really young. That was my last memory.”
And a good one. That was 2018 -- the No. 72-ranked Osaka upset Australia’s No. 17 seed in straight sets -- one year before winning her first Aussie title. Osaka has twice survived three-set matches, but Inglis is also battle-tested after coming through a 200-minute match with Laura Siegemund, 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-6[10-7].
It’s been four years since the 28-year-old played the main draw here and she’s made the most of it.
“I mean, tennis is brutal,” Inglis said. “You have some incredible moments and some really, really hard ones. To be in a Grand Slam, in Melbourne, like, it's my favorite tournament. I'm just so excited I get to play another match here.”
No. 21 Elise Mertens vs. qualifier Nikola Bartunkova
Head-to-head: 0-0
Mertens is the third consecutive Top 30 player this Czech teenager has faced -- and she’s beaten the first two, Bencic and Daria Kasatkina. After losing the second set to Bencic, Bartunkova came back to take the third 6-4 for her first-career Top 10 win.
Mertens has had success at this stage, winning four of six third-round matches. She has lost to only players named Sabalenka and Keys. This is her most successful event, with 22 wins and counting. She’s 5-1 for 2026, losing only to Bencic at the United Cup.
Order of play: Day 7 Australian Open
Rod Laver Arena
10:30 a.m. local; 6:30 p.m. ET (Friday)
-- Karolina Pliskova (CZE) vs Madison Keys (USA) [9]
-- Eliot Spizzirri (USA) vs Jannik Sinner (ITA) [2] Not before 12 p.m. local; 8 p.m. ET
7 p.m. local; 3 a.m. ET (Saturday)
-- Botic van de Zandschulp (NED) vs Novak Djokovic (SRB) [4]
-- Naomi Osaka (JPN) [16] vs Maddison Inglis (AUS)
Margaret Court Arena
10:30 a.m. local; 6:30 p.m. ET (Friday)
-- Jessica Pegula (USA) [6] vs Oksana Selekhmeteva
-- Peyton Stearns (USA) vs Amanda Anisimova (USA) [4] Not before 12 p.m. local; 8 p.m. ET
-- Ben Shelton (USA) [8] vs Valentin Vacherot (MON) Not before 2:30 p.m. local; 10:30 p.m. ET
7 p.m. local; 3 a.m. ET (Saturday)
-- Anna Kalinskaya [31] vs Iga Swiatek (POL) [2]
-- Marin Cilic (CRO) vs Casper Ruud (NOR) [12]
John Cain Arena
10:30 a.m. local; 6:30 p.m. ET (Friday)
-- Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) [5] vs Tomas Machac (CZE)
-- Elise Mertens (BEL) [21] vs Nikola Bartunkova (CZE) Not before 12 p.m. local; 8 p.m. ET
5 p.m. local; 1 a.m. ET (Saturday)
-- Stan Wawrinka (SUI) vs Taylor Fritz (USA) [9]
-- Elena Rybakina (KAZ) [5] vs Tereza Valentova (CZE)
KIA Arena
10:30 a.m. local; 6:30 p.m. ET (Friday)
-- Karen Khachanov [15] vs Luciano Darderi (ITA) [22]
-- Linda Noskova (CZE) [13] vs Wang Xinyu (CHN) Not before 12 p.m. local; 8 p.m. ET
-- Match TBA
Not before 6 p.m. local; 2 a.m. ET (Saturday)
-- Jakub Mensik (CZE) [16] vs Ethan Quinn (USA)
1573 Arena
10:30 a.m. local; 6:30 p.m. ET (Friday)
-- Alexander Erler (AUT) / Robert Galloway (USA) vs Harri Heliovaara (FIN) / Henry Patten (GBR) [2]
-- Corentin Moutet (FRA) / Luca Sanchez (FRA) vs Marcel Granollers (ESP) / Horacio Zeballos (ARG) [3]
-- Asia Muhammad (USA) / Erin Routliffe (NZL) [6] vs Shuko Aoyama (JPN) / Magda Linette (POL)
-- Anna Blinkova / Kamilla Rakhimova vs Hailey Baptiste (USA) / Peyton Stearns (USA)
-- Erin Routliffe (NZL) / Andre Goransson (SWE) vs Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) / Manuel Guinard (FRA)