At just 16 years old, Mirra Andreeva has pulled off the biggest upset of the Australian Open so far, demolishing sixth seed Ons Jabeur 6-0 6-2 in under an hour – before charming the Rod Laver Arena crowd with a delightful on-court interview. Live updates!
It came before Alex de Minaur smashed Italian Matteo Arnaldi to book a third-round berth, and prove just how much of a threat he can be at his home slam.
But he wasn’t the only Aussie to win their way into the third round on Wednesday.
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HUNTER STORMS INTO THIRD ROUND
Australia’s under-the-radar world No.1, doubles star Storm Hunter, has backed up her first ever Australian Open draw win with a second to reach the third round in Melbourne.
Hunter, 29, downed Germany’s Laura Siegemund 6-4 3-6 6-3 on John Cain Arena, overcoming being broken when leading in the third set to break back immediately and then serve out the match.
She has never made the third round in singles at slam level, though she made the Wimbledon final in doubles last year. She becomes the first Australian women’s singles qualifier to reach the third round since Amanda Tobin in 1985.
Hunter will now face Siegemund’s doubles partner, Czech No.9 seed Barbora Krejčíková, in the round of 32.
Alex de Minaur was full of praise for her third-round berth during his post-match press conference.
“I think I told her there I was so impressed with her level in the mixed. I thought it was unbelievable and the tennis she played throughout whole of United Cup,” de Minaur said.
“You know, I think it’s a pretty amazing achievement what she’s accomplished, considering the lack of preparation she was able to have going from United Cup straight into qualifying. So I think that needs to definitely be mentioned and taken into account. Now she’s in the third round of singles, which is great.
“You know, hopefully this gives her the belief to pursue the singles career a lot more.”
OPEN QUESTIONED OVER STRANGE SCHEDULE CALL
Rain delays meant there was no play on outside courts until 2pm AEDT on Wednesday, but the Australian Open has been questioned over not fully capitalising on earlier results to try and catch up.
Play finished quickly on Rod Laver Arena, allowing the tournament to move No.10 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia’s clash with Alina Korneeva onto centre court and save time on other courts.
But they did not do the same thing with Margaret Court Arena, which was left empty following Coco Gauff’s win over Caroline Dolehide just after 4pm.
That was despite the court not being neede again until 7pm’s night session.
While it could have been a tight turnaround if a women’s match was moved onto the court and went three sets, it would have saved valuable time elsewhere.
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NEXT STAR EMERGES AS ANDREEVA STUNS ONS
Tunisian star Ons Jabeur, who was the runner-up at Wimbledon in 2022 and 2023 and at the US Open in 2022, was absolutely blown away in a disastrous second-round defeat to Mirra Andreeva.
The former world number two was broken three times and won just eight points in a 20-minute first set, fewer than her 10 unforced errors.
She held her first game of the second set – barely – but the meltdown continued as she crumbled to a 5-1 deficit.
Jabeur regathered her composure and held serve, but Andreeva survived some late nerves to serve out the momentous win.
She will face the winner of No.90 Kamilla Rakhimova and No. 72 Diane Parry.
SLAM DEBUTANT STUNS EX-WINNER
An hour after Mirra Andreeva delivered a dazzling performance to oust dual-Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur on Rod Laver Arena, her compatriot Maria Timofeeva delivered another showcourt stunner.
The 20-year-old qualifier showed significant grit from midway through the second set against comeback queen Caroline Wozniacki before running away with their John Cain Arena match.
Competing in her first grand slam, the right-hander claimed the biggest win of her career 1-6 6-4 6-1 in 2hr 21min, with her finish against the former world No. 1 particularly emphatic.
Timofeeva, who defeated Australians Astra Sharma and Priscilla Hon in the final two rounds of qualifying, was too strong for French veteran Alize Cornet in the opening round.
The 170th-ranked Russian competed with a flair that belied her current status, with aggression coming to the fore throughout the final two sets.
She ultimately struck 40 winners, more than double the amount of the Danish champion, in a high-risk approach which reaped a rich reward.
Wozniacki, who progressed to the second round when last year’s semi-finalist Magda Linette withdrew with a back injury midway through their match on Sunday, is in the infancy of her comeback.
The 2018 Australian Open champion performed well after returning in the North American hardcourt swing last August.
She managed to stretch eventual champion Coco Gauff in a high-quality fourth round encounter at the US Open. But she looked short of match fitness in the latter stages against Timofeeva as her younger rival seized control.
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RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY
The clear run of weather in Melbourne unfortunately had to end at some stage.
The Australian Open confirmed there would be no action on any of the outside courts before 12.30 due to wet weather – and that was then extended to 2pm before play finally began.
The city copped 19.2mm of rain to 11am in an overnight drenching.
It could lead to a major backlog of matches that need to be played, but luckily the forecast is better for the days ahead.
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DAY 4 ORDER OF PLAY (Show courts & Aussies in action)
Day session from 12pm AEDT, night session from 7pm AEDT, unless listed
ROD LAVER ARENA
Day session
Mirra Andreeva (RUS) def. No.6 Ons Jabeur (TUN) 6-0 6-2
No.10 Alex de Minaur (AUS) def Matteo Arnaldi (ITA) 6-3 6-0 6-3
Additional match: Alina Korneeva (RUS) vs No.10 Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA)
Night session
Brenda Fruhvirtova (CZE) vs No.2 Aryna Sabalenka (BLR)
No.1 Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs Alexei Popyrin (AUS)
MARGARET COURT ARENA
Day session
No.4 Jannik Sinner (ITA) def. Jesper de Jong (NED) 6-2 6-2 6-2
No.4 Coco Gauff (USA) def Caroline Dolehide (USA) 7-6(2) 6-2
Night session
Jordan Thompson (AUS) vs No.7 Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)
Maria Sakkari (GRE) vs Elina Svanesyan (RUS)
JOHN CAIN ARENA (from 11am AEDT)
Maria Timofeeva (RUS) def. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 1-6 6-4 6-1
Not before 1pm: Storm Hunter (AUS) def Laura Siegemund (GER) 6-4 3-6 6-3
Not before 3pm: Christopher O’Connell (AUS) vs No.16 Ben Shelton (USA)
Christopher Eubanks (USA) v No.5 Andrey Rublev (RUS)
‘AND FOR WHAT’: CALL TO SHOW CONTROVERSIAL STAR BLASTED
Ukrainian tennis star Daria Kasatkina has blasted Australian Open broadcaster Channel 9’s decision to showcase Alexander Zverev’s match instead of a clash between two leading female players.
News emerged on Tuesday of Zverev being set a public trial date in relation to allegations he allegedly assaulted his former partner Brena Patea in 2020.
However, Channel 9 still decided to broadcast the World No. 6 on 9GEM, while a match between last year’s Australian Open finalist Elena Rybakina and former World No. 1 Karolina Pliskova was only available to watch on the network’s streaming platform 9NOW.
Aussie star Thanasi Kokkinakis’ five-round epic against Sebastian Ofner was on 9’s main channel.
Kasatkina took to social media to air her frustrations at Pliskova and Rybakina’s match being relegated to a streaming platform in place of Zverev’s contest against fellow German Dominik Koepfer.
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DAY 4 PREVIEW
Alex de Minaur leads the Aussie charge into the second round of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park.
The world No.10 is seeking “revenge” against one of the men who knocked Australia out of the Davis Cup, Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi, in the second match of the day session – de Minaur’s preferred timeslot, but one he’ll rarely get to play in at his home slam this year, given his high ranking and the tournament’s interest in having him headline the primetime session.
But after No.6 seed Ons Jabeur’s clash with 16-year-old Russian prodigy Mirra Andreeva – tipped as one of the future superstars of the sport – de Minaur will enjoy the Rod Laver Arena spotlight.
Meanwhile Australia’s Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt doubled down on Demon’s claims he’s out for ‘revenge’ after Australia lost to Italy in November’s Davis Cup final – where Arnaldi beat Alexei Popyrin.
“We want revenge. I’m still having nightmares where Arnaldi won a cliffhanger against Alexei Popyrin,” Hewitt said on Wednesday.
“If we were somehow able to win that match we would have held up the Davis Cup trophy. That’s been tough. That will be in the back of Alex’s mind.”
“It was a tough pill to swallow. To come so close yet again two years in a row. I know how much it hurts the boys. That will drive them on to bigger and better things.”
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Should de Minaur win he’ll face the victor of Pavel Kotov’s clash with Flavio Cobolli, two little-known players who’d never before won a grand slam match, bidding for career-bests over on the ‘party court’ of Court 6.
He’s not the only Aussie in action though, with Jordan Thompson – fresh off his complaint that the tournament is too “woke”, because of new rules permitting fans to move between games – battling former finalist and perennial fan favourite Stefanos Tsitsipas on Show Court 1 in the night session.
Women’s doubles world No.1 Storm Hunter, after advancing into the second round of her home slam for the first time, battles Germany’s Laura Siegemund on the people’s court John Cain Arena in the afternoon, before compatriot Christopher O’Connell battles exciting American young gun No.16 Ben Shelton.
The reigning champions headline the night session on centre court, just as they did on the tournament’s opening day, with No.2 Aryna Sabalenka facing exciting Czech teen Brenda Fruhvirtova before No.1 Novak Djokovic battles powerful Aussie Alexei Popyrin.
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