Swiatek beats Osorio, Pegula takes down Sasnovich to enter third round

MELBOURNE: World No 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland has soared into the third round of the Australian Open, overcoming a pair of late-set stumbles here at Rod Laver Arena to dismiss Colombian Camila Osorio.

Swiatek closed out a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Osorio in 84 minutes to win her 12th straight second-round match at a major. The Pole star hasn't lost before the third round of a major since the 2019 US Open.

Swiatek has now won 53 of her first 65 main-draw Grand Slam singles matches. In the Open Era, only six players had more such wins after their first 65 matches in majors: Margaret Court (61), Monica Seles (60), Chris Evert (57), Martina Hingis (56), Billie Jean King (56) and Tracy Austin (54).

Osorio's abilities to hyperextend rallies and change the direction of the ball down the line at a moment's notice allowed her to hang with the World No.1 in a number of close games. She even broke Swiatek three times, including when the Pole served for the match at 6-2, 5-1.

But in the end, the Swiatek power game which has led her to the top of the rankings was the determining factor. She used her forehand to great effect, with 13 rally winners from that side.

"It was really intense, and pretty physical. I think it was much tougher than what the score says. I know Osorio is gonna fight till the end and she's not going to give anything for free," Swiatek said in a press conference. "She made some good decisions as well. I'm pretty happy that I was solid, and that's the most important thing for me."

On the other hand, the No.3 seed Jessica Pegula edged Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 7-6(5) here at Rod Laver Arena to reach the last-32 for the ninth time in the last 10 majors. This was the second time in five months that the American beat Sasnovich at a Grand Slam.

Having just played her at the last hard-court Grand Slam (2022 US Open), Pegula said she was ready for the challenge that World No.38 Sasnovich posed, a player who just missed out on the Top 32 seeds.

"At the Open, I won 4 and 4, but I definitely felt like it easily could've been the other way," Pegula was quoted by WTA. "So, I was definitely ready for her to get streaky, to get hot, and I'm just glad that I was able to close it out in two (sets). Even though it seemed like I was cruising, I had a lot of tough services games, a lot of long return games as well. It toughens you up."

Felix Auger-Aliassime was already upset once by Alex Molcan, less than one year ago in Marrakech. On Wednesday at the Australian Open, the Canadian narrowly avoided falling to 0-2 in the pair's ATP Head2Head with a comeback victory.

The sixth seed stormed back from two sets down for a 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win in Margaret Court Arena, staying alive as he bids to improve upon his quarter-final run from last year in Melbourne.

World No.7 American Coco Gauff defeated 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu 6-4, 7-6(4) in a scratchy first-time meeting with the Brit to enter the third round of the Australian Open, here on Wednesday.

Gauff will face Croatian-born American Bernarda Pera next who beat Chinese Zheng Qinwen 6-4, 6-4.

Victoria Azarenka reached the third round after defeating Nadia Podoroska 6-1, 6-0 while 13th seed Danielle Collins beat Karolína Muchová 6-7, 6-2, 7-6.

Maria Sakkari survived a scare against college student Diana Shnaider, grinding out victory in a bad-tempered match that she thought she "was gonna lose".

The Greek sixth-seed narrowly avoided the biggest upset of the year's opening Grand Slam so far by eventually coming through 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 to reach the third round.

In men's section, Daniil Medvedev overcame a partisan crowd and tough veteran John Millman 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 on Margaret Court Arena to reach round three.

The seventh seed, who lost the 2021 decider to Novak Djokovic and then against Rafael Nadal last year, meets American Sebastian Korda next.

Adominant Stefanos Tsitsipas proved a step too far for home hope Rinky Hijikata as the Greek third seed eased into the third round with a 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 win. Wildcard Hijikata, ranked 169th in the world, went toe to toe with Tsitsipas in the early exchanges and looked capable of making it a contest for the Rod Laver Arena crowd.

The 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz beat Lorenzo Sonego 3-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 while 11th seed Cameron Norrie beat Constant Lestienne 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3.

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