Melbourne, Jan 19 (IANS) Former world number one Garbine Muguruza defeated Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets here on Saturday to reach round four of the Australian Open for the fourth time.

The number 18 seed routed her Swiss opponent 7-6(5), 6-2 after one hour and 54 minutes of play, reports Efe news.

Bacsinszky gave the Spaniard a tough fight and the first set could have gone to any of them.

Muguruza snatched a 5-2 lead in the tiebreak that she closed with an unreturnable serve.

She also grabbed eight of the final 11 points and closed the match with one of her ferocious backhands.

Just two nights ago, Muguruza had battled past Johanna Konta 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-5, in a marathon match.

Muguruza will now play against either 7th seed Karolina Pliskova or 27th seed Camila Giorgi in the fourth round.

--IANS kk/vm