Wozniacki crashes out as grand slam wait continues for devastated Dane

By ELEANOR CROOKS, PRESS ASSOCIATION

Published: 05:51 EST, 18 January 2014 | Updated: 05:59 EST, 18 January 2014

Caroline Wozniacki suffered yet another early exit at a grand slam as she crashed out of the Australian Open on Saturday.

Denmark's former world No 1 Wozniacki was beaten 4-6 7-5 6-3 by fast-improving young Spaniard Garbine Muguruza in the third round.

It meant that for an eighth successive slam Wozniacki has gone out before the quarter-finals, and she has reached the second week just once in that time.

Down and out: Caroline Wozniacki lost in the third round of the Australian Open to Garbine Muguruza

Wozniacki led in the second set, and she said: 'Sometimes it happens, you just don't take your chances.

'I don't think I did anything particularly wrong. I thought she played some great tennis as well. It was just a bit unlucky.'

Muguruza now faces fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who has been making hard work of her draw and came through another three-set match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Last year's semi-finalist Sloane Stephens is through to the fourth round of a fifth straight grand slam after beating Elina Svitolina 7-5 6-4.

Big win: Garbine Muguruza celebrates her victory over Wozniacki

Sign here: Sloane Stephens eased into the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday

Eighth seed Jelena Jankovic and 11th seed Simona Halep were also straight-sets winners and will play each other in the last 16.

Defending champion Victoria Azarenka set up an Australian Open rematch against Sloane Stephens with a thumping win over Yvonne Meusburger in the third round.

Azarenka, the winner of the title the last two years, took exactly an hour to defeat Austrian Meusburger 6-1 6-0, winning the final 11 games.

But, as impressive as Azarenka was, it is the pairing of the Belarusian with Stephens 12 months after their controversial semi-final encounter at Melbourne Park that will make the headlines.

Tucking in: Redfoo watches Victoria Azarenka make serene progress into the next round

Stephens, then a teenager, was playing in her first grand slam semi-final and had just saved five match points to get the second set back on serve.

Azarenka chose that moment to take a long medical time-out before breaking the Stephens serve to clinch victory.

In her on-court interview after the match, Azarenka joked she had nearly committed 'the choke of the year', implying the break was tactical.

She later insisted she had been misunderstood and in fact had been struggling with a locked rib that made it difficult for her to breathe.

The pair, who share an agent, have not met since and, asked in her press conference after beating Elina Svitolina on Saturday what their relationship was like, Stephens replied: 'Non-existent.'

Azarenka went on to win the final against Li Na last year despite the crowd heavily supporting the Chinese player.