Victoria Mboko continued her rapid rise up the rankings as she reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time with a 7-6 (5) 5-7 6-3 victory over 14th seed Clara Tauson at the Australian Open.
Mboko served for the second set and had three match points before Tauson fought back, but the 19-year-old showed maturity beyond her years to ensure that setback did not derail her.
Mboko was one of five teenagers to reach the third round in the women's singles, with fellow debutantes Tereza Valentova and Nikola Bartunkova also making a big impression along with 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva.
The Canadian is leading the teenage charge at Melbourne Park alongside 18-year-old American Iva Jovic, who upstaged seventh seed Jasmine Paolini 6-2 7-6 (7-3) to reach round four.
"There's a lot of us teenagers on the tour who are actually still in the tournament right now," said Mboko. "I think it's really nice to see.
"I've known a lot of them for such a long time, played against them in the juniors. I always want them to do well and vice versa."
Mboko's prize is a last-16 tie against world No 1 and two-time former champion Aryna Sabalenka, who was far from her ruthless best as she wobbled against Anastasia Potapova before coming through 7-6 (4) 7-6 (7) to progress.
Sabalenka will need to raise her level from her error-strewn performance against Emma Raducanu's conqueror Potapova, who had four set points in the second-set tie-break.
Sabalenka admitted emotionally she was "all over the place" but she again showed her mettle when she needed to, improving her open era record to 19 consecutive tie-breaks won at Grand Slams, dating back to a French Open semi-final loss to Karolina Muchova in 2023.
She is expecting a fierce battle from Mboko, saying: "I don't believe that mentality they (teenagers) have nothing to lose because I've been in their shoes. You still go out there with hopes that you're going to win this one, you're going to be the young one to win the slam."
Third seed Coco Gauff battled back from a set down to beat compatriot Hailey Baptiste and book her place in round four.
The 21-year-old lost the opening set 6-3, but adjustments to her serve laid the foundations for the comeback.
The American stormed through the second set 6-0 before closing out victory 6-3 in the third to set up a last‑16 tie against 19th seed Karolina Muchova.
"Hailey played so well in the first set; maybe it could have been a different outcome had a few points gone my way," Gauff said.
"I didn't change too much. I tried to get more first serves in. I tried to be aggressive with my serve placement and not be too passive.
"There were moments where I was a bit too passive, so honestly, I'm out there trying to figure out the balance along with everybody else.
"I wasn't too upset, and I was able to raise my level. I'm happy with how I mentally stayed calm."
Yulia Putintseva hit out at "disrespectful" Australian Open fans after her third-round victory over Zeynep Sonmez.
Sonmez has become a crowd favourite after helping a fainting ball girl during her first-round victory, while Melbourne has a large Turkish community who turned out in force.
But it was not enough to carry her to victory against Kazakhstan's Putintseva, who claimed a 6-3 6-7 (3) 6-3 win to reach the fourth round in Melbourne for the first time.
Putintseva taunted the crowd at the end and danced in celebration, with fans responding by booing throughout her on-court interview.
"There is always someone in favour and someone to cheer for, that's what's great about the sport," said Putintseva.
"But today I think was really a lot of disrespectful moments when they were screaming between my first and second serve. Like really loud, just to make me (make a) mistake.
"I think it was 4-3, was a big point, and I opened the court very good. I take my forehand, the guy just started coughing just for my shot. I was like, 'OK, now I'm not going to lose'.
"I was ready to take it all but I was ready to fight until I die there. What can I do? It's just some people have education of tennis and, unfortunately, some of them not.
"I'm very happy that I kept my calm, because Yulia last year would probably throw something at them at some moment."
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