Sixth seed Ons Jabeur and former champion Caroline Wozniacki both crashed out of the Australian Open to Russian teenagers; Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka defeated teenager Brenda Fruhvirtova in straight sets; Coco Gauff also progressed to the third round
Wednesday 17 January 2024 12:34, UK
Mirra Andreeva emphatically dumped out sixth seed Ons Jabeur at the Australian Open, as defending champion Aryna Sabalenka breezed into the third round in Melbourne.
Andreeva counts Jabeur as her idol but was utterly ruthless under the roof on Rod Laver Arena, defeating the sixth seed and two-time Wimbledon finalist 6-0 6-2 in just 54 minutes.
Jabeur could only smile in astonishment at some of the shots Andreeva played, while she celebrated like an underdog when she finally won a game at the start of the second set.
She was unable to stall Andreeva for long, though, with Andreeva branding it the best match she has played as last year's girls' singles final cruised into the last 32.
"In the first set I played really amazing tennis, I didn't expect that from myself," said the teenager. "I'm happy I played with Ons [Jabeur]. It was one of my dreams to play against her, because I really like the way she plays. It meant a lot, this match that I won.
"She's so nice. Now, after the match, she came to me, she wished me luck. I just know that she is who she is and she never changes."
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka defeated teenager Brenda Fruhvirtova 6-3 6-2 in just 67 minutes to ease into the third round.
Fruhvirtova was not overawed and matched the second seed until 3-3 in the first set, when Sabalenka put together a run of seven games in a row.
The world No 107 earned cheers from the Laver crowd for stopping the rot thereafter, with a couple of searing winners showing that this was unlikely to be her only chance on the big stage.
"I think for someone who is 16, she's doing an incredible job," Sabalenka said. "I wish I was at that level at that age. She's an unbelievable player, if she keeps on working she'll be at the top real soon. I'm super happy with the win. I was focused on myself, not on anything else and I just tried to fight for every point."
Another young Russian making waves in Melbourne is 20-year-old qualifier Maria Timofeeva, who is playing in the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time and ended former champion Caroline Wozniacki's comeback.
The Dane retired here four years ago and is back with her two young children in tow but she could not build on a strong start, losing 1-6 6-4 6-1.
Wozniacki has other responsibilities now but she could not hide her disappointment, saying: "I would like to say that in my mind I can just kind of brush it under the carpet but it sucks just as much. Losing now and losing back then, it doesn't really change.
"As a competitor, you want to win everything. When you have the family here and you bring everyone, you want to win even more because you want to stay longer and not have to move around. I felt like this was my match to win, and I didn't."
Coco Gauff avoided becoming another early upset when she advanced to the third round with a 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 win over fellow American Caroline Dolehide.
Dolehide served for the opening set at 6-5 before US Open champion Gauff - who battled issues with her first serve - came through in the tie-breaker, before improving in the next to safely reach the last-32.
"It was really hard," Gauff said. "If you give her something short, she's going to punish you for it, so if I could go back and do something I'd change that."
Gauff will next play another American, Alycia Parks, who reached the third round of a Grand Slam singles tournament for the first time with a 7-5, 6-4 win over 32nd-ranked Leylah Fernandez.
Czech ninth seed Barbora Krejcikova secured a straight sets win, firing off 30 winners and eight aces to ease past Germany's Tamara Korpatsch 6-2 6-2.
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