MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Second-seeded Vera Zvonareva kept alive her bid for a third consecutive Grand Slam final, beating Lucie Safarova 6-3, 7-6 (9) on Saturday to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open.
Zvonareva served for the match twice but was extended to the tiebreaker. Safarova led 4-2 and 5-3 in the tiebreaker before Zvonareva finally sealed it on her fourth match point.
She lost the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals last year. If she goes one better and wins the Australian title, Zvonareva can move into the No. 1 ranking.
No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska advanced over Simona Halep 6-1, 6-2.
On the men's side, fourth-seeded Robin Soderling beat Czech qualifier Jan Hernych 6-3, 6-1, 6-4.