TENNIS
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Canadian star Eugenie Bouchard is content to let her tennis do the talking at the Australian Open after being drawn into a sexism row.
A storm of controversy erupted after a male reporter asked her to do a twirl to show off her outfit following her second-round victory, but an unfazed Bouchard can still see the lighter side of the situation.
"Personally I'm not offended," Bouchard said after defeating Caroline Garcia to advance to the fourth round.
"No, I think it was an in-the-moment thing and it was funny."
World No1 Serena Williams said it wouldn't be okay for Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal to be asked to do a twirl on court.
But Bouchard suggested, tongue in cheek, that it would be fine for female tennis players to be subjected to such requests as long as the men were too.
"I'm fine with being asked to twirl if they ask the guys to flex their muscles and stuff," said the Wimbledon runner-up.
It's not the first time Bouchard has been on the end of a bizarre line of questioning.
She was asked who her ideal date would be at last year's Australian Open, to which she replied "Justin Bieber".
"They try to ask funny questions," Bouchard said.
"I don't mind it. People can think what they want about it.
"But I just answer how I want and do what I want."
The 20-year-old will face unseeded Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu in the next round as she looks to back up her run to last year's semis.
Meanwhile, Belgian Yanina Wickmayer may be the lowest-ranked player left in the Australian Open at No 80, but she will not be short of confidence in the fourth round.
Wickmayer claimed her second seeded scalp of the tournament on Friday, upsetting Italy's 14th seed Sara Errani 4-6 6-4 6-3.
The former US Open semi-finalist, who has played three three-setters this week, accounted for 23rd seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round.
Next up is Romania's Simona Halep, the third seed who downed world No258 Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4 7-5.
Wickmayer, whose best finish at the Australian Open was a fourth-round exit in 2010, has won all three of their previous meetings.
"She beat me every time when I played her, but next round will be a new day," Halep said.
"I expect a very tough match. She's very tall and she's very strong."
Tenth seed Ekaterina Makarova was the first woman through to the fourth round, trumping Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-4 6-4.
The 26-year-old's next assignment is German Julia Goerges, unseeded and ranked 73rd in the world.
Maria Sharapova has her Australian Open title hopes back on track with a crushing win over Zarina Diyas.
The second seed steam-rolled the Kazakhstani 31st seed 6-1 6-1.
She will meet China’s 21st seed Peng Shuai in the fourth round. - AAP