MELBOURNE, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Three Chinese women's players took center stage at the Australian Open on Saturday, ready to battle for a place in the fourth round of the tournament.

While things didn't go exactly to plan, China's top talent managed to push some of the world's very best to the limit.

In a highly entertaining match-up, former tournament quarterfinalist Zhang Shuai went toe-to-toe with sixth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.

Down in the first set, Zhang fought her way back in the second and pushed Svitolina to the brink in the third.

Despite her resilience however, the running game of Svitolina would eventually prove the difference with the final score finishing 6-4, 4-6, 5-7.

With scorching hot conditions on center court and both players calling for medical time-outs during the match to get treatment on pre-existing injuries, the two showed great sportsmanship after the grueling affair when they laughed and congratulated each other.

Their touching moment was met with a huge applause from the Melbourne crowd.

In another close contest Chinese Taipei's crafty veteran, Hsieh Su-wei, was faced with a tough task against reigning U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka.

Off to a strong start, Hsieh won the first set and had the Japanese star on the back foot.

But in the end Osaka managed to recompose herself to take the match 7-5, 6-4, 6-1.

Noticeable laughing to herself in a bizarre moment during the second set, Osaka explained to reporters after the match what was going through her mind.

"I walked into the match knowing that she was going to do a lot of strange things," Osaka said.

"I can never really tell where she's going to put the ball. She hits down the line and then hits a weird crosscourt. It's very, very hard to have a rally with her."

"She was just playing so well, and I think I got overwhelmed. And then early in the second set I tried doing things that I know isn't necessarily my game, like I was trying to hit higher balls."

"Then after a while, I just started thinking that I'm in a Grand Slam. I shouldn't be sad, I'm playing against a really great player, so I should just enjoy my time and try and put all my energy into doing the best that I can on every point. I think that's why I laughed," Osaka added.

In another round three women's singles match, China's Wang Qiang was outgunned against Latvian world number 12 Anastasija Sevastova, going down 6-3, 6-3.

"I was not quite accurate today," Wang told Xinhua.

"I didn't perform well technically, especially when I played at the baseline."

But despite the loss, Wang said playing down under is always a great experience.

"Playing at the Australian Open is very similar to playing in China, since there are many Chinese fans here and there's Chinese restaurants too. I don't feel too much differences playing here," she said.

In another appearance for a Chinese competitor, Han Xinyun and her Croatian partner Darija Jurak lost out to Hungary's Timea Babos and Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the doubles bracket. Enditem

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