Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva has staged the comeback of the day at the Australian Open, rallying from 5-1 down in the deciding set to deny Frenchwoman Diane Parry 1-6 6-1 7-6 (10-5) in a match tiebreaker.

Andreeva staved off a slow start and survived a match point late en route to toppling Parry in an epic, back-and-forth encounter. 

It's the second dramatic victory in as many days for Andreeva after she demolished her mentor, sixth seed Ons Jabeur, in straight sets. 

Andreeva, who has fast become one of the most exciting prospects on tour, carried the goal of simply sharing the practice court with Jabeur into the tournament.

But now she's powered into the fourth round where the 16-year-old will play either Australian qualifier Storm Hunter or Czech ninth seed Barbora Krejcikova, who clash at Rod Laver Arena in Friday night's final match

Meanwhile, Amanda Anisimova has returned to tennis with new-found perspective and purpose — and that could spell trouble for defending Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka.

Fresh off a six-month mental health break, Anisimova continued her impressive comeback to take out practice partner and former world No.2 Paula Badosa in straight sets on Friday to be the first woman through to the fourth round.

The former teenage prodigy overcame some early serving woes and a big first-set deficit to carve out a 7-5 6-4 third-round victory on John Cain Arena.

The victory vaulted the 22-year-old into the second week at Melbourne Park for the third time, backing up her efforts from 2019 and 2022.

After reaching the French Open semifinals as a 17-year-old, then making the quarters at Wimbledon in 2022, Anisimova took a hiatus last May citing mental health issues and burnout fears for the break.

The time out has worked wonders.

"It's quite unbelievable," she said of her latest Open charge.

"After taking some time off, I'm feeling really good and the most important thing is that I'm enjoying my time out here.

"Taking a step away and just really being at home and resetting myself; it gave me a different perspective going into these tournaments.

"I'm really trying to be present when I'm here. Having that is a huge advantage for me now."

Playing on her special ranking of No.61, despite slipping officially to 442nd in the world, Anisimova shapes as a huge last-16 threat to Sabalenka.

The Belarusian world No.2 quickly followed the American into the fourth round with a merciless 6-0 6-0 win over Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko.

Sabalenka needed just 52 minutes to march on, and has dropped only six games in three one-sided victories en route to the second week.

"I'm just super-happy with the level I'm playing so far and hopefully I can just keep going like that, or even better," she said.

Sabalenka and Anisimova will clash for a place in the quarterfinals on Sunday.