Serena, Osaka & Halep also win but Wawrinka, Andreescu, Venus, Kvitova exit
Eight-time champion Novak Djokovic was made to sweat at the Australian Open on Wednesday, as Serena Williams made serene progress in her bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles title.
As Major winners Stan Wawrinka, Bianca Andreescu and Petra Kvitova were second-round casualties, Djokovic dropped his first set of the event before grinding past America’s Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-2), 6-3.
“I was fortunate to get through the third set today, it was anybody’s game,” said the defending champion, after his win in hot conditions on Rod Laver Arena.
The top seed looked in control after taking the first set, but lightning-quick Tiafoe, who reached the quarter-finals two years ago, refused to go quietly.
The American bounced back to take a close second set but imploded as tensions rose in the fourth, receiving a code violation for an audible obscenity as Djokovic took charge.
The Serb is targeting a record-extending ninth title and his 18th Grand Slam trophy overall as he snaps at the heels of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, who top the all-time list with 20 each.
He avoided the fate of 2014 winner Wawrinka, who blew three match points in the fifth-set tiebreaker in his four-hour epic with Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics, who won 7-5, 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, 7-6 (11-9).
“I had some chance to finish the match, I didn’t finish,” said the 35-year-old Swiss, a three-time Grand Slam winner.
Earlier, the 39-year-old Williams continued her quest to equal Margaret Court’s all-time mark of 24 tennis Grand Slams with a 6-3, 6-0 romp past 99th-ranked Serbian Nina Stojanovic in just 69 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
Williams hit 27 winners in her 101st Australian Open match while again sporting her unique, one-legged catsuit inspired by track legend ‘Flo-Jo’.
In the evening session, Japanese sensation Naomi Osaka thwarted Caroline Garcia with an effortless straight-sets victory, as she stormed into the third round, where she will face 27th seed Ons Jabeur.
The third seed, faced a tricky contest against the Frenchwoman, who was ranked a career-high of fourth in late 2018 but never gave her a sniff in the 6-2, 6-3 victory in 61 minutes.
“I stayed focused throughout the match and I tried to play within myself,” Osaka, who hit 23 winners, told the crowd at Rod Laver Arena.
The three-time Grand Slam winner is riding a 16-match unbeaten streak — including the US Open final — dating back 12 months, and is building momentum having not played before arriving in Australia since her triumph in New York.
Osaka is eyeing redemption after her title defence last year ended with a shock loss to American teenager Coco Gauff in the third round.
‘Crowd helped me fight’
Williams’ older sister Venus, 40, however, was a major casualty when she painfully rolled her ankle in the first set against Sara Errani before hobbling through a 6-1, 6-0 defeat.
And Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion who missed the entire 2020 season with a knee injury, saw her comeback come to an abrupt end, losing 6-3, 6-2 to Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Su-wei.
“You need to find a way to get through and the crowd helped me fight,” said Hsieh, after beating the Canadian, who was coming off a draining three-setter against Mihaela Buzarnescu.
Elsewhere Kvitova, the former Wimbledon champion and Melbourne runner-up in 2019, committed 44 unforced errors in her 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 defeat by Romania’s Sorana Cirstea as the big names tumbled on day three.
However, reigning US Open champion Dominic Thiem, runner-up to Djokovic last year, was all smiles as he beat Germany’s Dominik Kopfer 6-4, 6-0, 6-2.
“It was great, to be honest,” the Austrian said of his performance on Margaret Court Arena.
“I really love this court and have pretty good stats on it, so super happy to be back.”
Eighth seed Diego Schwartzmann also hurried into the last 32, brushing aside Frenchman Alexandre Muller 6-2, 6-0, 6-3 in 1hr 32min on Show Court 2.
Sixth seed Alexander Zverev ground past Maxime Cressy but he made heavy weather of ousting the qualifier.
The German, a semi-finalist last year who is gunning for a maiden Grand Slam title, struggled to snap the American’s resistance in a tight first set.
He finally made a breakthrough in the 11th game to seal the set and went onto win 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 in 2hr 4min.
His reward is a tricky clash against France’s Adrian Mannarino, the 32nd seed who swept past Serb Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.
Volatile Australian Nick Kyrgios, meanwhile smashed a racquet, delivered underarm serves, ranted at the umpire and saved two match points on his way into the third round.
The 25-year-old drew a raucous, socially distanced crowd to his favoured John Cain Arena and kept them highly entertained, with the atmosphere electric in a gripping clash with Frenchman Ugo Humbert.
He eventually came through 5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 after 3hr 25min against the 29th seed to set up a blockbuster clash with third seed Thiem.
Women’s second seed Simona Halep was rattled by big-hitting Alja Tomljanovic, another Australian, but won five games in a row to survive a major scare and reach the third round.
The two-time Grand Slam winner was pushed to the brink in a see-saw clash before finally prevailing 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in 2hr 34min.