 | « Back to article | Print this article |
All the action from Day 4 at the Australian Open at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, on Wednesday
Third seed Carlos Alcaraz brushed aside Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 in 81 minutes to march into the third round at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Alcaraz got off to a blistering start and never looked back, winning the first nine games before Nishioka could even get on the board.
Alcaraz worked on making his serve more potent in the off-season and was thrilled with how it held up against Nishioka.
He racked up 14 aces and three double-faults without giving Nishioka a single break point chance.
"I'm really happy with the serve today, it's something that I worked on," he said.
Unseeded Portuguese Nuno Borges knocked out Australian 27th seed Jordan Thompson 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 at John Cain Arena and has earned a third-round match against third seed Carlos Alcaraz.
This after rain forced organisers to suspend play on the outer courts, while the roof was closed at Rod Laver Arena where Novak Djokovic and Jaime Faria split the first two sets.
Twice champion Naomi Osaka was blown away by Karolina Muchova in the opening set but produced a stirring comeback to win 1-6 6-1 6-3 and move into the third round.
"It took everything, I left everything out there on the court," said Osaka, who lost to Muchova in their last two meetings.
In a big upset on Day 4, Zheng Qinwen was the first big name to exit the women's draw on Wednesday after the Olympic champion was stunned by Laura Siegemund while top seed Aryna Sabalenka made heavy weather of her second round match before going through.
Jessica Pegula, who lost to Sabalenka in last year's US Open final, safely advanced while Tokyo Olympics champion Belinda Bencic moved on after a brief spell of rain delayed proceedings on the outer courts on the fourth day.
China's Zheng had been bidding to emulate compatriot Li Na's 2014 triumph at Melbourne Park but her hopes evaporated on John Cain Arena, where unseeded German Siegemund pulled off a stunning 7-6(3), 6-3 victory.
The fifth seed left the court looking like she was about to burst into tears while world number 97 Siegemund was beaming from ear to ear after a famous win.
"I knew I just had to play more than my best tennis – you have nothing to lose so I told myself to swing free," Siegemund said on court.
"She's an amazing player, she's one of the best players now. But I know I can play and I wanted to maker it a tough fight."
Zheng said it was just not her day.
"I had a lot of chances to break her in the first set but you know in that moment maybe my concentration wasn't there," the 22-year-old said.
"At the same time, I felt she was playing really good. It's tennis, nothing more."
Sabalenka is bidding to become the first woman to win three straight titles at Melbourne Park since Martina Hingis from 1997-99 and while the Belarusian beat Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-3 7-5 she did not have it all her own way.
After easing through the first two games of the match on Rod Laver Arena, Sabalenka twice swapped breaks with the world number 54 before taking control for a 5-2 lead and closing out the opening set on serve.
The three-times Grand Slam champion's serve came under intense pressure in the next set and she found herself trailing 4-1 as an inspired Bouzas Maneiro began hitting stinging winners on both sides of the court.
Sabalenka found a spark from somewhere and fought back from 5-2 to level at 5-5 and fired a backhand winner to break again in the next game before wrapping up the contest to extend her win streak at the hardcourt major to 16.
"She played incredible tennis today and it was a really tough one," Sabalenka said.
"I mean, I expected this tennis from her, so I'm really glad that I was able to win this match.
"In the second set ... I wasn't rushing too much after 5-2, I was like, 'okay, whatever, we just leave this second set and we move on. And yeah, I was able to turn it around.
"I'm super happy with the win in straight sets, especially against someone like her, who makes you work for every point."
American seventh seed Pegula beat Belgian Elise Mertens 6-4 6-2 on Margaret Court Arena while Bencic beat Suzan Lamens 6-1, 7-6(3) after Olga Danilovic stunned 25th seed Liudmila Samsonova 6-1 6-2.
Russian 14th seed Mirra Andreeva saved a match point in the final set tiebreak to beat Japan's Moyuka Uchijima 6-4 3-6 7-6(8) and reach the third round.
Andreeva, 17, is looking to improve on her last-16 run on her Melbourne Park debut last year.
Tomas Machac beat big-serving Reilly Opelka 3-6 7-6(1) 6-7(5) 7-6(4) 6-4 in a five-set match where both players converted only one break point each.
Opelka sent down 40 aces and 83 winners but the American also made 89 unforced errors and 16 double faults.
