Davis pulled off some scintillating tennis of her own from the brink of defeat, saving a second match point with a searing forehand up the line and a third when Barty missed a forehand return into the net, ultimately forcing a tie-break.

Once in the Sudden Death, Barty took control, winning a long rally to move ahead two mini-breaks for 3-0 – just as the match hit the two hour mark – and dove for a no-look backhand volley to maintain her lead and move ahead 5-1 by the change of ends. One last long rally decided the match as Davis’ forehand went wide on Barty’s first match point.

In all, Barty proved far more aggressive on the night, striking 35 winners – including eight aces -to Davis’ 13, all the while winning an impressive 76% of points played on her first serve.

Standing between Barty and a return to the fourth round is the winner of one of the postponed second round matches between No.30 seed Maria Sakkari and dangerous qualifier Peng Shuai, who reached the semifinals of this tournament back in 2014.

Sakkari and Barty last clashed two weeks ago in the Western & Southern Open quarterfinals, where the Aussie won in three sets.