Top 10 roundup: Rybakina, Navarro, Kasatkina advance on Day 5 in Melbourne

Top 10 players Elena Rybakina, Emma Navarro and Daria Kasatkina moved into the third round of the Australian Open on Thursday, joining No.2 seed Iga Swiatek as highly-seeded winners on Day 5 Down Under.

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No.8 seed Navarro had the most difficult afternoon of those players. The American twice battled back from a break down in the third set before overcoming powerful left-hander Wang Xiyu of China 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in 2 hours and 11 minutes.

Wang had notched her only previous Top 10 win over then-No.3 Maria Sakkari at the 2022 US Open, which is also the only time she has made a Grand Slam third round. But Wang is also a former Junior World No.1, and she beat Navarro en route to the 2018 Junior US Open title.

However, Navarro and Wang had their first pro meeting in the first round of last year's Australian Open, and Navarro prevailed 7-5 in the third set on that occasion. One year and one round later, it was another hard-fought battle between the pair of 23-year-olds.

Wang used lefty kick serves to lead 2-0 in the final set, but she was broken back at 2-2, during a game where she fell on court chasing down a well-placed Navarro groundstroke. Wang went up another break at 4-3, but strong returning by Navarro put her back level at 4-4.

At 5-4, Wang led 40-15 but Navarro slammed a winner plumb on the baseline to stay in the game. It all went the American's way from there, as she picked off four points in a row to steal one last service break and triumph.

After getting through two challenging three-setters in her first two rounds, Navarro will now face former World No.2 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in Round 3. Jabeur got past Camila Osorio of Colombia 7-5, 6-3 on Thursday.

Jabeur won their only previous match 6-3, 6-2 on the clay courts in Navarro's hometown of Charleston in 2022.

In another early afternoon match, No.9 seed Kasatkina eased into the third round with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Wang Yafan of China. Kasatkina took 1 hour and 18 minutes to defeat World No.64 Wang.

The Australian Open is Kasatkina's least successful Slam and she is hoping to post a career-best result this year, in her 10th tournament appearance. This is just her third trip to the third round in Melbourne and she is yet to make a Round of 16 here.

So far this year, though, Kasatkina is breezing through the draw. She has dropped only six games in her first two matches, and she is finally back at .500 at the Australian Open (career win-loss record of 9-9).

Kasatkina will take on No.24 seed Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in the third round. Putintseva, currently ranked at a career-high World No.23, cruised past former Australian Open quarterfinalist Zhang Shuai 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday.

Kasatkina leads their head-to-head 2-1, including a hard-court win at the end of last year en route to the Ningbo title.

Finally, No.6 seed Rybakina collected a 6-0, 6-3 win over 17-year-old American wild card Iva Jovic on John Cain Arena. The 2023 Australian Open finalist Rybakina needed 80 minutes to hold off the rising teenager and earn the 50th Grand Slam main-draw win of her career.

After defeating Junior World No.1 Emerson Jones in the first round, Rybakina needed to face Junior World No.2 Jovic in her second match. It was a routine start for Rybakina, who won the first seven games of the match.

Jovic, who is already ranked No.191 in the PIF WTA Singles Rankings, then demonstrated a patch of strong form, taking three games in a row to lead 3-1 in the second set. But 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina regrouped and reeled off the next five games to garner victory.

Rybakina is now 11-1 at the Australian Open after winning the opening set. Her only Melbourne loss from a set up was when she finished runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka in the 2023 final.

Rybakina will next take on No.32 seed Dayana Yastremska, in their first pro meeting. Yastremska, who made last year's Australian Open semifinals out of qualifying, stormed past Danka Kovinic 6-0, 6-1 on Thursday.