Leylah Fernandez reaches 3rd round of Australian Open, Felix Auger-Aliassime ousted
Fellow Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski advances to 2nd round of doubles
Canadian Leylah Fernandez overcame a first-set loss and rain delay to reach the third round while Felix Auger-Aliassime's Australian Open bid ended Wednesday.
The 30th-seeded Fernandez dropped the opening set to Moldovan-born Cristina Bucsa of Spain but bounced back to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the two-hour 25-minute match.
The victory marks the first time that the Laval, Que., athlete has made it to the third round of the Grand Slam event at Melbourne Park.
Fernandez, who had two aces, had a slow start against Bucsa. She finished with more double faults (7-4) and unforced errors (40-25), but appeared to gain momentum after winning the second set.
WATCH | Fernandez rallies into the 3rd round of the Australian Open:
Fernandez will next play third-seeded American Coco Gauff.
Meanwhile, Auger-Aliassime, who was coming off a title at the Adelaide International, dropped a 6-7 (9), 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 decision to Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in second-round play.
In women's doubles, the second-seeded duo of Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand reached the second round with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Americans Danielle Collins and Desirae Krawczyk.
WATCH | Auger-Aliassime eliminated in 2nd round in Melbourne:
Osaka rebounds to make 3rd round
Naomi Osaka's second-round match at the Australian Open could not possibly have started in a worse way. All of 21 minutes in, she sailed a forehand service return well long and, just like that, trailed 5-0.
Osaka strode to the sideline for the changeover, plopped herself down and draped a white towel over her head, blocking out all sights and leaving her with just her thoughts. She stayed like that throughout the break between games, even manoeuvering a water bottle under that towel to take a drink.
This was not a match against some unknown opponent, someone Osaka knew for sure she could beat. It was against 20th-seeded Karolina Muchova, the runner-up at the 2023 French Open and a three-time semifinalist at other majors, including at Melbourne Park in 2021.
Muchova also had defeated Osaka in their two most recent matchups. None of that mattered on this afternoon, though: Osaka forgot about that disappointing start and came all the way back to win 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 on Wednesday.
What was her mindset? "Just be aware and try not to get so negative on yourself. I think, for me, the score in the first set was very dramatic, but there was key points that I could have maybe won a game here or there," Osaka explained. "So I kept trying to tell myself that."
This was, in some ways, a significant moment for Osaka, who once reigned atop women's tennis, winning four Grand Slam titles — two at the Australian Open, two at the U.S. Open — and ascending to No. 1 in the WTA rankings. The victory allowed her to reach the third round at a major tournament for the first time since the 2022 season.
Getting to that stage was not considered a big deal at one point for her. But time off because of mental health breaks and then a pregnancy — Osaka's daughter, Shai, was born in July 2023 — changed things.
Since returning to action a year ago, Osaka has shown signs of getting her game back together, including a memorable and narrow loss to then-No. 1 Iga Swiatek at the French Open. This, though, followed a win against 2022 U.S. Open semifinalist Caroline Garcia in Melbourne and meant the progress is real.
"It definitely was something that is a goal of mine, especially after last year; I wasn't able to beat a seed in a Grand Slam," Osaka said. "I'm obviously very thankful that happened so early this year."
She also joked about gaining a measure of "revenge" by defeating Garcia — who eliminated Osaka in Melbourne a year ago — and Muchova in consecutive matches.
Next for Osaka is a matchup against Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Belinda Bencic, who is also a mother; her daughter, Bella, was born last year. Both Osaka and Bencic are big hitters.
"It's going to be a fun match," Bencic said.
Zheng bounced in upset loss
Muchova wasn't the highest-seeded player to exit Wednesday. That was No. 5 Zheng Qinwen, the runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka at the 2024 Australian Open and the gold medallist at the Paris Games last August. Zheng lost a bit of focus after being called for a time violation and never managed to counter 97th-ranked Laura Siegemund's strokes, bowing out 7-6 (3), 6-3 at John Cain Arena.
After the chair umpire cited her for taking too long to serve, Zheng hit her next offering so poorly it bounced way before reaching the net.
"I knew," the 36-year-old Siegemund said, "I just had to play more than my best tennis."
The player who beat Zheng in the final 12 months ago, No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, stretched her Melbourne Park winning streak to 16 matches as she eyes a third consecutive title, beating No. 54 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-3, 7-5 at Rod Laver Arena.
Other women's winners included No. 7 Jessica Pegula and No. 14 Mirra Andreeva.
Novak Djokovic added to his record collection by playing in his 430th career Grand Slam match — one more than Roger Federer — and, though he dropped a set for the second outing in a row with new coach Andy Murray by his side, moved into the third round with a 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2 win over Jaime Faria.
Other men advancing included No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz, who joked that he is now a "serve bot" after hitting 14 aces while dismissing Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0, 6-1, 6-4.
"The serve's about confidence and feeling," Alcaraz said. "Today I felt great."
Seeded losers included No. 6 Casper Ruud, a three-time major finalist; No. 22 Sebastian Korda and No. 27 Jordan Thompson.
Ruud was eliminated by 19-year-old Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. Mensik equaled his best Grand Slam showing by getting to the third round and joined 18-year-old João Fonseca — who upset No. 9 Andrey Rublev on Tuesday — as the first pair of teens to beat top-10 men at the same Grand Slam tournament since Djokovic and Murray did it at Wimbledon in 2006.
With files from The Associated Press
