MELBOURNE – The rally lasted 41 shots, with the players trading baseline groundstrokes for more than a minute, and when it ended, one person applauded.
The atmosphere was different for the sixth day of play Saturday at the Australian Open, with no fans to cheer for No. 5-seeded Elina Svitolina as she advanced to the fourth round by beating No.
26 Yulia Putintseva, 6-4, 6-0. Svitolina won their marathon rally early in the second set, and the majority of points after that.
There was no crowd due to the start of a five-day lockdown imposed by the Victoria state government in response to a COVID-19 outbreak at a hotel.