Australian Open: Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff reach third round

Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, two of the top three women’s seeds at the Australian Open, both reached the third round on Wednesday.

And the top-ranked man, Carlos Alcaraz, joined them.

The top-seeded sambass defeated Bai Zhouxuan of China 6-3 6-1 at Rod Laver Arena, and no. 3 gauff won overhander Olga Danilovic 6-2 6-2 at the Margaret Court Arena.

Alcaraz defeated German Yannick Hanfmann in a tough match for the Spaniard, who prevailed 7-6(4) 6-3 6-2.

“I knew he (Hanfmann) would play great,” Alcaraz said.

“I knew his level. We had already played a few times. But to be honest, it was harder than I thought.”

“The ball came like a bomb – forehand, backhand, so I had to be ready for that,” Alcaraz added of Hanfmann’s shot.

Alcaraz, 22, is attempting to win his first title at Melbourne Park to become the youngest man to complete a Grand Slam career.

Sabalenka won the Australian Open in 2023 and 2024 and finished second against Madison Keys a year ago. She is chasing her fifth Grand Slam title and has two trophies at the US Open.

Gauff has never advanced beyond the semi-finals in Australia and has won Grand Slam titles at the French Open and US Open.

Sabalenka raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set but then needed seven set points at Rod Laver Arena to win the set against the defending Chinese player, who used clever drop shots to help her stay in the match.

Sabalenka will next face Anastasia Popapova, who defeated 28th seed and former US Open champion Emma Raducanu 7-6(3) 6-2.

“I was happy with this victory, a difficult opponent,” said Sabalenka.

“She really got into it in the first set.”

Sabalenka led 4-0 in the second set and overpowered the smaller Bai. Sabalenka even tried a bit of serve-and-volley in the match, in an effort to diversify her game.

“You saw a serve-and-volley today,” Sabalenka said.

“It didn’t really work well, but I did it anyway.”

Bai made her second appearance at the Australian Open, reaching the second round for the first time.

In another women’s match, 12th seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine defeated Linda Klimovicova of Poland 7-5 6-1. Gael Monfils, a popular 39-year-old Frenchman and husband of Svitolina, retired in his retirement year at Melbourne Park, losing in a first-round match to qualifier Dane Sweeny on Tuesday.

In another women’s match, Turkey’s Zeynep Sönmez, who was widely praised during her first round match on Sunday for assisting a sick ball child, advanced to the third round after beating Anna Bondar 6-2 6-4.

Sönmez was playing on one of Melbourne Park’s outdoor courts and the stands were packed with members of Melbourne’s Turkish community.

“I really appreciated that there were a lot of Turks there, and I felt like I was at home,” she said.

“At first I couldn’t even hear my own thoughts. It was very, very loud.”

In the men’s results, 2021 US Open winner and 11th seed Daniil Medvedev defeated Quentin Halys 6-7(9) 6-3 6-4 6-2, 13th seed Andrey Rublev defeated Jaime Faria 6-4 6-3 4-6 7-5 and 19th seed Tommy Paul defeated Thiago Agustin Tirante 6-3 6-4 6-2.