Australian Open: Ons Jabuer, Caroline Wozniacki beaten as Coco Gauff reaches third round in Melbourne

January 17, 2024

Teenage star Mirra Andreeva produced a stunning performance to demolish Ons Jabeur at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff came through a tough test to reach the third round in Melbourne.

Andreeva counts Jabeur as her idol but she 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."

Wozniacki comeback ended by Timofeeva

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."

Gauff comes through Dolehide test

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.

What else happened on day four?

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.

Aryna Sabalenka headlines Wednesday night's action, as the defending champion faces 16-year-old Brenda Fruhvirtova,

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