MELBOURNE — American
youngster Coco Gauff extended her winning streak to nine matches with a 6-3,
7-5 defeat of Jodie Burrage in the Australian Open second round.
The American had to come from 5-3 down in the second set to
reel in the World No.173. Gauff's speed and consistency saw her ease to a 3-1
second-set lead over Burrage. However, the Briton threatened to turn the tables
with a run of four straight games before Gauff responded with four straight of
her own to get over the finishing line.
With a win, Aguff set up a third-round encounter with 2021
US Open finalist and No. 30 seed Leylah Fernandez, who defeated Cristina Bucsa
3-6, 6-4, 6-4 for a place in the third round.
In other Day 4 action, two-time Australian Open champion
Naomi Osaka secured a berth in the third round of a Grand Slam for the first
time since giving birth in July 2023.
The world No. 51 Japanese rallied from a set down to earn a
1-6, 6-1, 6-3 win over 20th seed Karolina Muchova on Wednesday after battling
for almost two hours. Osaka finished with 33 winners to 27 unforced errors,
while Muchova hit 27 winners to 29 unforced errors.
The four-time major winner’s next opponent is Switzerland’s
Belinda Bencic, who is competing in her first Grand Slam since giving birth
last year. Bencic advanced with a straight-sets dismissal of Dutchwoman Suzan
Lamens, 6-1 7-6(3).
In another match, seventh seed Jessica Pegula snapped her
losing streak against 2018 semifinalist Elise Mertens with a 6-4 6-2 victory at
Margaret Court Arena.
Pegula, who reached three straight Australian Open
quarterfinals between 2021 and 2023, needed 1 hour and 11 minutes to best
Mertens, the highest-ranked unseeded player.
In the round of 32, Pegula faces Olga Danilovic, who scored
a 6-1, 6-2 upset over 25th seed Liudmila Samsonova.
Meanwhile, top-seeded Sabalenka needed to battle before
collecting her 16th straight win at Melbourne Park. After a first set,
Sabalenka found herself down 5-2 in the second.
Bouzas Maneiro took the big second-set lead while she was
aiming for her second upset of a Grand Slam defending champion. But, Sabalenka
wrest back the momentum, winning five games in a row to swipe the second set
and book her spot in the third round for the fifth straight year.
She is the first woman to win 16 straight Australian Open
matches since Victoria Azarenka in 2014. Sabalenka is also attempting to become
the first woman to win three straight Australian Open singles titles since
Martina Hingis from 1997 through 1999.
With the win, Sabalenka remains in the mix to retain her
World No.1 ranking coming out of Melbourne, although Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff
also have the possibility to claim the top spot after the Australian Open.
Elsewhere, the 14th seed Mirra Andreeva survived a scare
against Moyuka Uchijima, who served for the match at 5-4 in the third before
the 17-year-old ultimately triumphed 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, (10-8).
Aus Open: Djokovic breaks Federer's record for most Grand
Slam matches played with win over Faria
MELBOURNE — The
24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic has moved past Swiss legend Roger
Federer to claim the all-time record for most major singles matches played
among men and women by contesting in his 430th Grand Slam singles match.
The 10-time Australian Open winner battled past 21-year-old
qualifier Jaime Faria 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday moving past Federer's
tally of 429.
The Serb is through to the third round of the season first
major for the 17th time in 20 appearances to continue his quest for a 25th
major singles title and 100th tour-level crown.
"I think I responded very well in the third and
particularly fourth set, the way I ended the match. He was playing lights-out
tennis towards the end of the second set and beginning of the third. I had to
weather the storm. He's been practically serving two first serves the entire
match.
“It's not easy to play someone like that who doesn't have
obviously anything to lose coming out. He's a big guy, very young, so I told him
at the net, the future is bright for him, he should keep going," Djokovic
was quoted saying by ATP website.
Next up for Djokovic will be a third-round meeting with
26th-seeded Czech Tomas Machac, a 3-6, 7-6(1), 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-4 winner
against Reilly Opelka earlier on Wednesday. The pair split two previous Lexus
ATP Head-to-Head meetings in 2023 and 2024, with Machac winning their most
recent showdown in last year's Geneva semi-finals.
Djokovic is bidding to become the oldest player in the Open Era
to win a Grand Slam title, a record that currently belongs to Ken Rosewall, who
won the 1972 Australian Open at the age of 37 years and 62 days. At the end of
this Melbourne fortnight, Djokovic will be 37 years and 249 days old.
