World No.55 Olga Danilovic delivered a sensational performance to upset No.7 seed Jessica Pegula 7-6(3), 6-1 in the third round of the Australian Open in 1 hour and 30 minutes.

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With Serbian compatriot and 24-time ATP major champion Novak Djokovic watching, the 23-year-old fired 28 winners and saved all six break points she faced to reach the second week of a Grand Slam for the second time, following last year's Roland Garros.

Djokovic, who had preceded Danilovic on Rod Laver Arena to win his own third-round match, mirrored Danilovic's arms-aloft celebration backstage after she sealed her third match point with an unreturned serve. Danilovic is the first Serbian woman to reach the second week at the Australian Open since former World No.1s Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic both made the 2014 fourth round.

"She's top of the world, she's such a great player," Danilovic said in her on-court interview. "I knew I had to have my A-A-A plus-plus-plus game to beat her. In the back of my mind, I really believed in myself."

The result was Danilovic's third career Top 10 win. The first came on her WTA main-draw debut, when she defeated Julia Goerges in the 2018 Moscow River Cup quarterfinals en route to winning the title as a 17-year-old. The last two have both come on the Grand Slam stage in the past year: Danilovic also upset Danielle Collins en route to the Roland Garros fourth round.

The Serb has now won 13 of her past 14 matches, a hot streak dating back to last year. Danilovic closed 2024 by winning the Cornellà de Llobregat ITF W100 and then her second Hologic WTA Tour title in Guangzhou back-to-back. Though she lost her 2025 season opener to Maya Joint in Hobart, Danilovic had already pulled off a significant upset this week over in-form No.25 seed Liudmila Samsonova in the third round.

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How the match was won: With both players serving effectively and winning over 70% of the first serve points, a tiebreak to decide it was appropriate. Danilovic and Pegula had each faced break-point danger in one service game -- Danilovic in the second game and Pegula at 5-5 -- but found their best deliveries to escape.

However, Danilovic had been the one consistently coming up with the boldest aggressive play throughout the set, with her left-handed forehand down the line proving a significant weapon. She found another gear in the tiebreak, too, reeling off the last five points in a row with clean winners: passing shots, a superb reflex volley and a forehand sitter pummeled with such force that it drew gasps. In total, she found 28 winners to Pegula's 12. 

Danilovic went from strength to strength in the second set. The third game was crucial. It was the only moment in the match where she seemed to waver, and her accuracy began to fluctuate. But she saved four break points to grit out the hold, and pounced in the very next game to break Pegula for the first time.

Danilovic will next face No.11 seed Paula Badosa, with a first Australian Open quarterfinal at stake for both. She leads the head-to-head against the Spaniard 2-1, including a 6-4, 7-5 win in their most recent meeting, in the first round of the 2019 Guadalajara WTA 125. Danilovic's only loss to Badosa came in the final qualifying round of the 2018 Moscow River Cup -- a tournament she went on to win after getting in as a lucky loser.

Head to Head

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33.3% Win 1
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66.7% Win 2

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Pegula's assessment of Danilovic: The World No.6 is known for her keen pundit's eye on the game, and she was full of compliments for her opponent's bravura performance.

"She served, like, 80% first serves," said Pegula. "When you are playing against a lefty, that's really tough. Conditions were so slow. It was slower than a clay court, it felt like. The balls were so heavy, and that totally I think favored her for sure. Especially with her lefty kind of whippy forehand up to my backhand, it's really tough.

"Usually where I feel like I can get free points off of returning really well, I felt like because she was making a lot of high-percentage first serves, and then with the conditions being slower, my ball just wasn't getting me any free points, it seemed like.

"Then she just kind of stepped it up, literally from 3-3 in the tiebreak. Her level didn't really drop. Maybe just that one game. Again, she hit, like, two, three winners on every breakpoint. Not really much I could have done."