Day 4 was fun. 18-year-old Next Gen champion Joao Fonseca made a jolt with a straight-sets win over Andrey Rublev 24 hours earlier, but besides that, there wasn’t much to speak of as the first-round matches were finally concluded. The same couldn’t be said as round two began, with seven seeds falling across both draws while another teenage talent made noise in a memorable night session.
Pegula purposeful before Olympic champ Zheng stunned
JUST as quickly as there was a suggestion Elise Mertens would recover after some inspired shotmaking with the handbrake off, three-time Australian Open quarterfinalist Jessica Pegula clinched an impressive second-round victory (6-4, 6-2) as the seventh seed reeled off a first career victory over the Belgian.
“She’s kinda crushed me a few times,” Pegula playfully acknowledged when asked about the H2H matchup in her post-match interview on court.
Citing the importance of keeping composed against a tricky operator, she deemed it more a strategic and mental challenge but was happy with her overall display, being able to incorporate a lot she’d been working on while saying last year’s injury woes allowed her a chance to decompress and manage her schedule better.
Feeling refreshed after a little offseason setback, it’ll be interesting to see if she can improve upon a place in the tournament’s last-eight – having been stifled at the same stage in three straight years (Jennifer Brady, Ashleigh Barty, Victoria Azarenka).
With a positive 14-point swing in her winners to unforced errors, she’ll next play an in-form Serbian in Liudmila Samsonova’s conqueror Olga Danilovic after the 23-year-old dropped just three games (6-1, 6-2) against the no. 25 seed.
Having won titles in Spain (W100 Cornella de Llobregat) and Guangzhou in October to finish 2024, the youngster will be keen to stress-test her midweek.
Olympic champion Belinda Bencic shrugged off a late injury scare after twisting one way and landing awkwardly mid-point, though the returning 27-year-old’s savvy shot defence and refreshing rally tolerance saw her emerge beyond Dutchwoman Suzan Lamens 6-1, 7-6 to produce an intriguing contest between new mothers as she’ll play four-time Major champion Naomi Osaka in round three.
Osaka, a 2019 and 2021 champion at Melbourne Park, looked glum and was feeling sorry for herself early after being bamboozled by Karolina Muchova’s fast start in their three-set affair, though she responded well and made adjustments to ultimately prevail 1-6, 6-1, 6-3, avenging a straight-sets defeat early at last year’s US Open.
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka didn’t have it all her own way, but accepted Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro produced an exceptional level and conceded she felt free knowing set two was essentially a formality, having been 5-2 down at one stage.
Yet despite some defiant shotmaking and service breaks aplenty in a back-and-forth contest, the world no. 1 stormed to a straight-sets win (6-3, 7-5) with five consecutive games, seizing the initiative as the 22-year-old got tight when serving for the set and paid a painful price. Better serving came in clutch, just when she needed it to.
“She makes you work for every point. I love a good challenge, they play good and I have to play better, this is how I’ll improve. Today, I have to say you were cheering for her but I forgive you, next time let’s change that! It’s not about being nice, just gotta fight and get the job done. I’m not crazy off-court, I’m a nice person – don’t know if my team will agree but I promise, I’m nice!”
- Sabalenka on Maneiro’s spirited display, being the hunted and perspective after her 16th consecutive AO win
The day’s big shock came early on the John Cain Arena, as last year’s runner-up and Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng lost 7-6, 6-3 against German veteran Laura Siegemund. The 36-year-old boasted an 80% first serve percentage and she was assertive at the net against the fifth seed, who couldn’t rally after losing a tight opening frame and will rue her inability to convert break point opportunities.
Draper downs Kokkinakis, Faria duels Djokovic and more
The tournament’s 15th seed and British no. 1 Jack Draper embraced the villain role perfectly in a pulsating battle of attrition, skilfully outlasting home hopeful Thanasi Kokkinakis during a five-set midnight marathon (6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3).
Having endured a similarly gruelling first-round battle against Argentina’s Mariano Navone, twice rallying from a set down to win a decider early Monday, the 23-year-old – whose hip injury cast doubt over his participation this fortnight – accepted he didn’t want to make a habit of these late finishes.
Nonetheless, he gave props to an “unbelievable” player in the admirable Aussie, who has endured his own share of injuries, acknowledging their battles are always hard-fought. Kokkinakis, who won a series of warm-up matches in Adelaide, called the trainer several times and was enduring shoulder pain as another exhausting match ultimately took its toll despite his best efforts. All told, he can hold his head high.
“I’m really proud of how I competed and eventually came through, saw he was hurting quite a lot and had a really long match [against Roman Safiullin], credit to him for a great fight.
I wasn’t sure if I was gonna be fit to come here, my tennis has been improving, getting better each set and this [atmosphere] is what I play for, whether you’re with or against me, it’s tough to deal with but I had a little fun back, so good to be out here with unbelievable support.”
Draper will face Kokkinakis’ compatriot Aleksandar Vukic for a fourth-round berth on Friday after the 28-year-old also went the distance for a second consecutive match, hitting 48 winners – including 17 aces – eventually winning 7-5 in the decider against American #22 seed Sebastian Korda.
Carlos Alcaraz [3] vs. Novak Djokovic [2] in a mouthwatering quarterfinal is ever closer after their contrasting victories over Yoshihito Nishioka and Jaime Faria.
Alcaraz stormed to a 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 win over the Japanese international, who was blasted off the court in 81 minutes with heavy forehand groundstrokes and the sort of video game tennis reinforcing the desire from many, that early rounds should be a best-of-three set affair (36 winners, 14 aces).
Djokovic dropped another set, this time against a rising Portuguese qualifier whose sluggish start allowed him to play free, hit harder and produce some clever tennis before fading physically – ala American teen Basavareddy on Monday – and being worn down by a 24-time Major champion who logged his 430th Grand Slam match, breaking a tie he equalled with legendary rival Roger Federer on Monday.
Faria hit 14 aces, reeled off some highlight reel winners and gradually grew into a contest like many an underdog has against the Serbian in recent seasons.
Making his main draw debut here, the 21-year-old sits just outside the world’s top 100 rankings after a memorable stint in Melbourne, one that will stand him in good stead for the rest of a long calendar year.
Djokovic plays Tomas Machac in R3 after he held firm over five sets against big-serving Reilly Opelka, who bested the 10-time Australian Open champion in Brisbane on January 3 but hasn’t yet translated that form in a best-of-five format.
Faria’s older compatriot Nuno Borges faces Alcaraz and will hope to be more competitive than their maiden H2H meeting in Barcelona two years ago, where he lost 6-3, 6-1. Easier said than done, mind.
One to watch: Elsewhere, Olympic champion Alexander Zverev won clean to set up an intriguing clash against Britain’s Jacob Fearnley after the 23-year-old backed up his Nick Kyrgios scalp by recovering from a set down to beat last year’s surprise package Arthur Cazaux in four (3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3). Facing the tournament’s second seed in a big-serving duel, this showdown is sure to be appointment viewing.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina recovered from two sets down to topple no. 29 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime (6-7, 6-7, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3) in a match 15 minutes shy of five hours on the outside courts, finishing well after midnight local time as the Spaniard’s first serves bailed him out of tricky situations in the deciding set.
His reward? Casper Ruud’s conqueror Jakub Mensik, six years his junior at 19 and brimming with confidence after beating a top-10 player, now owning a pair of four-set victories over established opposition to kickstart the year’s first Major.
Picture source: Getty Images
Mo and Sports 