Coco Gauff reaches Australian Open 3rd round; Ons Jabeur out

US Open winner Coco Gauff and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka avoided surprises on day four of the Australian Open to advance to the third round alongside 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva.

Three-time major finalist Ons Jabeur lost 6-0, 6-2 in 54 minutes to Andreeva in Wednesday's opening match at Rod Laver Arena, then 2018 champion Caroline Wozniacki also lost to a young Russian on the exhibition ground no. 3.

Two other 16-year-olds lost their center court matches to highly ranked players: No. 10 Beatriz Haddad Maia replaced Alina Korneeva 6-1, 6-2, and Sabalenka beat Brenda Fruhvirtova 6-3, 6-2 to open the match. the night session.

Gauff extended her winning streak to nine Grand Slam matches with a 7-6 (2), 6-2 victory over fellow American Caroline Dolehide.

Dolehide served for the first set at 6-5 before Gauff took control of the tiebreaker.

“It was really difficult,” 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 it.”

Gauff will next face 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 victory over 32nd-ranked Leylah Fernandez.

Jabeur, a Wimbledon finalist in each of the last two years, made 24 unforced errors against Andreeva.

“I was really nervous before the match because I'm really inspired by Ons and the way she plays,” said Andreeva, who lost in the final of the junior event here last year. “Before I started the WTA Tour, I always watched her matches and was always very inspired. Now I had the chance to play against her.”

Her opening 7-5, 6-2 win over Bernarda Pera was her first in the main draw in Australia, making her the youngest player since Gauff to win matches in all four majors. His victory against Jabeur was his first against a player ranked in the top 10, another milestone in his career.

This is the second year in a row that Jabeur has lost in the second round in Melbourne.

Wozniacki led by a set and a break before losing 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 to 20-year-old Maria Timofeeva, who is making her Grand Slam main draw singles debut.

Wozniacki, who had two children before returning to the WTA Tour in 2023 after a three-and-a-half year absence, started on top before Timofeeva turned the tables with devastating hits, including 40 winners.

“I’m really a little speechless now,” Timofeeva said. “It was an honor to play here against Caroline. I came into the game with no expectations. I enjoyed every second of it.”

Timofeeva said she was shocked after seeing her number of Instagram followers double following her victory.

“I just looked at Instagram. I was like, 'What happened'? I did mine for about three years,” Timofeeva told reporters. “I had 5,000 followers. Now I opened up. I gained 8,000 in one game. It's crazy.”

Wozniacki said the match “slipped out of my hands…it's really disappointing.”

Wozniacki's exit follows that of Angelique Kerber and Naomi Osaka in the first round, leaving the tournament without any of the three mothers and former champions who returned to the Grand Slam this year.

Jabeur and Wozniacki played their matches under the roof at Rod Laver Arena and John Cain Arena respectively, with rain delaying the start of matches on the outdoor courts by three hours. This has cleared up and the delay in matches has been limited.

Amanda Anisimova continued her comeback after a seven-month mental health break with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Nadia Podoroska. She will next face Paula Badosa, winner 6-2, 6-3 against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Magdalena Frech won a second-set tiebreak to defeat France's Caroline Garcia 6-4, 7-6 (2) and set up a third-round meeting with qualifier Anastasia Zakharova.

Elina Avanesyan defeated world number 8 Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-4. The 21-year-old Russian will next face Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, who beat former world number one Elise Mertens 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (6).

Ninth-seeded Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic won in straight sets, hitting 30 winners and eight aces to beat Germany's Tamara Korpatsch 6-2, 6-2. World No. 1 doubles qualifier Storm Hunter gave local fans more reason to celebrate when she beat Laura Siegemund 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to continue her fairytale run in his Grand Slam at home.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.