Australian Open: Djokovic barrels into third round as seeds fall

Novak Djokovic stormed into the third round of the Australian Open on Thursday to step up his bid for a 22nd Grand Slam crown, but several men’s seeds collapsed.

Second seeds Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz, Alexander Zverev and Diego Schwartzman were all dispatched on day four at Melbourne Park.

With the surprise exit on Wednesday of defending champion Rafael Nadal, the top two seeds are now gone.

With top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz also sidelined through injury, it presents a huge opportunity for Djokovic, who was previously the favorite to win his 10th Melbourne crown.

Novak keeps moving forward 💪

The 9x champion defeated Couacaud 6-1 6-7(5) 6-2 6-0 and will face Grigor Dimitrov in the third round.@DjokerNole • #AusOpen • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/VMOcZklPlC

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 19, 2023

The 35-year-old Serb needed a medical timeout and had severe strapping on his left thigh against 191-ranked qualifier Enzo Couacaud.

He was also harassed by some rowdy fans and at one point during the match demanded that a drunken fan be thrown out.

But Djokovic regained his strength and fitness to beat the Frenchman 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 6-0 and face 27th seed Grigor Dimitrov in the third round.

“There was a lot going on in this match,” Djokovic, who is nursing a hamstring injury, told Rod Laver Arena.

The on-field interview was stopped for a moment when an audience member shouted.

“I love you too, thank you,” said Djokovic, who has enjoyed his return to Melbourne Park after being deported a year ago for his stance on the Covid vaccine.

“I like to play night sessions and let’s continue,” he said.

Other seeds Andrey Rublev, Dan Evans, Holger Rune and Roberto Bautista Agut also won in the second round.

But it was a bad day for some of the top men’s players.

World number three Ruud always struggled against Jenson Brooksby, and the Norwegian went down in four sets to the American, 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2.

39th-ranked Brooksby, who is making his Australian Open debut, will face compatriot Tommy Paul in the third round.

Ruud, who could be number one in Melbourne, refused to blame the stomach injury.

“I gave it my all, but in the fourth set especially it wasn’t enough,” he said.

Eighth seed Fritz also went home after local wildcard hope Alexei Popyrin beat him 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 6- 2 .

“It’s a dream and I don’t want to wake up,” said 113th-ranked Popyrin, who broke down in tears as the crowd called his name.

Zverev, seeded 12th, suffered another setback in his return from serious injury as he lost to 107th-ranked Michael Mmoh.

Ominous Sabalenka

In the women’s draw, Aryna Sabalenka showed why she is a serious contender for the title by dominating the third round.

Also safely through was French fourth seed Caroline Garcia, who won 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 against former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez.

Sabalenka of Belarus beat 51st-ranked American Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-1 in one hour and 27 minutes and faces 26th seed Elise Mertens.

Sabalenka, who reached the semi-finals of last year’s US Open, extended her 2023 unbeaten streak to six matches. He won the recent Adelaide International without dropping a set.

It’s a stark contrast to the start of last season when his serve completely abandoned him, reducing him to tears during the Australian Open warm-up event.

Sabalenka served three aces against Rogers, but no double faults. He spoke candidly about working hard to turn his fortunes around.

“I worked hard on my service. You can’t imagine,” he told reporters.

“God, I thought, almost everything to try to fix my service.”

American qualifier Katie Volynets dumped Russian world number nine Veronika Kudermetova.

The 21-year-old Volynets won 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 on Margaret Court Arena and later paid tribute to her family in war-torn Ukraine.

“This is a very difficult time. Before, everyone could move to the country, but they wanted to and continued their days,” said the Russian-speaking Volynets.

“And now it’s just, you know, every day.

“I really feel for them and to have their support through all of this is amazing.”

Other seeds who lost in the second round were Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit, who lost to Poland’s Magda Linette, and Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova.

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