Australian Open 2018: What you missed on day three - Kyle Edmund cruises as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Caroline Wozniacki squeak through

Here is what you missed overnight on day three at the Australian Open...

Edmund eases into round three

Britain's only player in the men's draw kept the nation's hopes alive with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 thumping of the dangerous Denis Istomin in just 1hr 29min. 

Istomin pulled off an almighty upset at last year's Australian Open when he beat the six-time champion Novak Djokovic, but he had no answer this morning to Edmund's ferocious power.

The Brit hit 38 winners, alongside just 20 unforced errors, and he said afterwards: "It was a professional performance. After having four hours on court on Monday, to get it done a lot quicker today will do me good."

Next up for Edmund will be Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili, the world No 61, on Friday. And the draw is opening up to such an extent for Edmund that he can't meet a higher ranked player until the quarter-final. 

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Nadal forced to dig deep

While the scoreline looked straightforward, world No 1 Rafael Nadal had to produce some of his best tennis to fend off the spirited challenge of Argentina's Leonardo Mayer. 

Nadal served beautifully - landing 74 per cent of his first serves in - and played a superb third set tie-break to come through 6-3, 6-4, 7-6. 

Perhaps most encouraging for the Spaniard was how well he moved, with his recent knee troubles seemingly not a major issue at this tournament. 

Having not dropped a set at this year's Australian Open so far, Nadal continues his quest for a 17th grand slam title on Friday against Bosnia's 28th seed Damir Dzumhur. 

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The comeback king and queen

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Caroline Wozniacki both recovered from seemingly impossible positions to book their places in the third round.

While Tsonga recovered from 5-2 down in the fifth set of his match with exciting youngster Denis Shapovalov to secure a 3-6, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6, 7-5 victory, world No 2 Wozniacki saved two match points against Croatia's Jana Fett.

The 21-year-old Fett had only won her first grand slam match on Monday but nerves coupled with Wozniacki grit saw the former world No 1 reel off six games in a row for a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory.

Tsonga was at his showboating best en route to defeating Shapovalov on Margaret Court Arena this morning, producing a stunning 'hot-dog' in the latter stages of the match which lasted 3 hr 37 min. VH

Kyrgios overcomes distractions to stay on track

The 17th seeded Nick Kyrgios kept his cool to reach the third round and set up a showdown with Tsonga after overcoming tricky opponent Viktor Troicki 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Kyrgios was agitated by noise coming from umpire James Keothavong's microphone and shout-outs from fans at inopportune moments but didn't let the disruptions affect his concentration.

Keothavong's night got worse during the third set tiebreak as a wayward backhand return from Troicki caught the top of the umpire's head. He joked: "It's not my day, is it?"

Kyrgios has advanced beyond the third round only once at his home slam when he reached the last eight three years ago. VH

New kid on the block

Qualifier Marta Kostyuk has become the youngest player to reach the third round of a grand slam since 1996.

The 15-year-old  Ukrainian entered the season-opening major ranked at No 521 and followed up her first-round win over 25th seed Peng Shuai with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over wild-card entry Olivia Rogowska.

Kostyuk had already played three three-set matches in qualifying over six hours to earn her place at this year's major, and then became the youngest player since Martina Hingis 22 years ago to win a main-draw match.

The teenager is managed by Ivan Ljubicic, who works with Roger Federer, and says he has been key to her development.

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"Ivan is always helping me ... after every match, he's telling me what's wrong," she said afterwards with a smile.

The youngster was handed a code violation during her win after the umpire ruled she had received coaching from her mother in the stands. 

Kostyuk now faces compatriot and No 4 seed Elina Svitolina in the next round. VH

Seed slayers brought back down to earth 

Belinda Bencic and Zhang Shuaiboth failed to follow up their first-round exploits as they were brought back down to earth.

Bencic had knocked out out last year's runner-up Venus Williams on a day of shocks on Monday, but slumped to a 6-1, 6-3 defeat against Thai qualifier Luksika Kumkhum today.

Zhang, conqueror of US Open champion Sloane Stephens in round one, was also toppled by a qualifier in the shape of Czech Republic's Denisa Allertova, who claimed a 6-4 7-6 win.

"It was not the issue that I was still thinking about the Venus win," Bencic said. "I had re-set and focused but it was a tough second round. I've played her a few times and it's always been really difficult.

"But I'm still pretty positive. The start to the year has been better than I could have imagined." VH

Match of the day

It wouldn't be a grand slam tournament without an Ivo Karlovic epic, and the 38-year-old duly obliged as he edged Yuichi Sugita 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, 4-6, 12-10 in 4hr 33min. 

Upset of the day

Relatively few shocks on day three, but the 15th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova getting thumped  6-2, 6-3 by Kateryna Bondarenko was a big surprise. 

Quote of the day

Fifteen-year-old Marta Kostyuk on how she will spend her £82,400 winnings so far:

Stat of the day

Marin Cilic won a whopping 92 per cent of points on serve in his straight sets win against Joao Sousa. 

Shot of the day

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's incredible improvisation to produce a hot dog when serving to stay in the match against Denis Shapovalov took the Margaret Court Arena crowd's breath away. 

Tweet of the day

Matches you don't want to miss tomorrow

Novak Djokovic vs Gael Monfils (third on Rod Laver Arena) could have the feel of an exhibition match, while British No 1 Johanna Konta continues her campaign against Bernarda Pera (first on Court 2). 

There could also be fireworks in top seed Simona Halep's night match against Eugenie Bouchard (first match of the evening session on Margaret Court Arena).