Osaka and Svitolina taken to the brink at Australian Open

Japanese US Open champion Naomi Osaka and sixth seed Elina Svitolina survived big scares but displayed fighting qualities to pull back from the brink at the Australian Open on Saturday.

On day six at Melbourne Park, fourth seeded Osaka looked down and out against Taiwanese veteran Hsieh Su-wei before battling back to win 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 and set up a last 16 meeting with Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova, who beat China's Wang Qiang in straight sets.

Pliskova struggled with a painful shoulder complaint that required treatment at every change of ends, and medical timeouts, before somehow beating China's Zhang Shuai 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 as the temperature rose in the centre court sunshine.

They played ahead of Serena Williams making another bow on Rod Laver Arena as she gathers steam in her bid to win a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.

The American great takes on unseeded Ukrainian teenager Dayana Yastremska.

Misfiring world number one Simona Halep is also in action, testing herself against ...