Melbourne, Jan 21 (UNI) World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka emerged as the standout performer as second-round matches in the top half of both singles draws got underway on Wednesday at the Australian Open, with the leading seeds largely enjoying a smooth passage into the third round at Melbourne Park.
Two-time champion Sabalenka continued her dominant run at Rod Laver Arena, overpowering Chinese qualifier Zhuoxuan Bai 6-3 6-1 to underline her status as the player to beat in the women’s draw. The reigning Brisbane champion has now won an astonishing 45 of her last 50 sets at the Australian Open, reinforcing her remarkable consistency on the Melbourne hard courts.
However, there will be no third-round meeting with Britain’s Emma Raducanu after the former US Open champion became the only seeded casualty in the women’s draw on Day 4, losing 7-6(3) 6-2 to Anastasia Potapova.
World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz also advanced comfortably in the men’s draw, coming through a competitive opening set before defeating Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann 7-6(4) 6-3 6-2. Alcaraz, who will face Frenchman Corentin Moutet on Friday, revealed after the match that he has been playing golf with Swiss legend Roger Federer during his off days, describing Federer’s skills on the fairway as “beautiful”.
It was a largely stress-free day for players at the top of the WTA rankings, with Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini, Mirra Andreeva, Elina Svitolina and Victoria Mboko all progressing to the third round. Gauff was near flawless in a 6-2 6-2 win over Serbia’s Olga Danilovic, while teenage sensation Andreeva needed little more than an hour to sweep past former world No.3 Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-0 6-4.
Svitolina, fresh from lifting the Auckland title in her Australian Open build-up, extended her unbeaten start to the season to seven matches with a 7-5 6-1 victory over young Pole Linda Klimovicova. Canadian talent Mboko advanced with a 6-4 6-3 win over American Caty McNally to set up a clash with 14th seed Clara Tauson, while seventh seed Paolini came through a rain-interrupted encounter against Magdalena Frech late in the day.
The top seeds in the men’s draw also moved ahead, though home favourite Alex De Minaur was tested early before rallying to beat Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic 6-7(5) 6-2 6-2 6-1 under the Rod Laver Arena lights. De Minaur will next face American Frances Tiafoe, who advanced after a four-set win over Argentina’s Francisco Comesana.
Brand new ATP top-10 entrant Alexander Bublik continued his impressive start to the season, defeating Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 7-5 6-4 7-5 to remain unbeaten in 2026. The Kazakh recently claimed the Hong Kong title and is now six wins from six matches this year. Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev all required four sets to book their places in the round of 32, with Rublev revealing his recovery routine as “ice bath and then coffee, sleep, coffee, sleep, practice and sleep”.
One of the matches of the day saw Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina survive a marathon battle, edging past American Reilly Opelka 6-4 in the fifth set after nearly four hours. Davidovich Fokina will take on Tommy Paul in the third round on Friday.
