MELBOURNE (Reuters) – The Australian Open third round begins on Friday with defending champion Aryna Sabalenka kicking things off on Rod Laver Arena while Novak Djokovic resumes his quest for an 11th title.
Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and Coco Gauff are among the other top seeds in action on the showcourts while familiar foes Naomi Osaka and Belinda Bencic meet on John Cain Arena.
TOP WOMEN’S MATCH: NAOMI OSAKA V BELINDA BENCIC
Twice champion Osaka, who returned to the tour from a 15-month maternity break in January last year, is starting to show flashes of the brilliance that earned the former world number one the title in 2019 and 2021.
A resurgent Osaka has already avenged last year’s Australian Open first-round loss by beating Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia and followed that up by knocking out Czech 20th seed Karolina Muchova.
Osaka meets a familiar foe in Belinda Bencic, who holds a 3-2 record against her, with the Japanese relishing the challenge against the former Olympic gold medallist, who also returned to the circuit after giving birth in April.
“I love it. I love playing the big opponents. I think that’s where I play my best tennis,” Osaka told reporters.
“If I play better and better opponents as the rounds go on, I think it’s more interesting because I feel like it’s the clash of two Titans almost.”
TOP MEN’S MATCH: NOVAK DJOKOVIC V TOMAS MACHAC
Djokovic will hope to exact revenge when he faces Czech Tomas Machac, who stunned the 24-times major winner in the semi-finals of the Geneva Open last year.
Machac, 13 years his junior, has only grown in confidence since, winning the mixed doubles gold at the Olympics.
Djokovic has already dropped sets against Nishesh Basavareddy and Jaime Faria and the 37-year-old can expect another tough outing versus Machac, who is looking to advance to the fourth round for the first time.
“It’s always tricky to play these kind of opponents, mentally to sustain that level,” Djokovic said after reaching the third round.
“Obviously you don’t know whether they’re maybe going to fold under the pressure of playing on the centre court or they’re actually going to go the different way, which I think both of my opponents in the first and second round did.”
GAUFF WARY OF AGGRESSIVE FERNANDEZ
American third seed Coco Gauff plays 30th seed Leylah Fernandez and the 2023 U.S. Open champion knows she must be at her best to beat the Canadian, who was the 2021 U.S. Open runner-up.
“Obviously (I need to) serve better. She’s going to be aggressive, that’s her game. She’s a great mover, she’s going to hit some great shots,” Gauff said.
“I expect her to play great tennis. I just hope I can do the same.”
AUSTRALIAN OPEN ORDER OF PLAY ON FRIDAY
Here is the order of play on the main showcourts on the sixth day of the Australian Open (prefix number denotes seeding):
ROD LAVER ARENA
Day session (0030 GMT/1130 AEDT)
1-Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) v Clara Tauson (Denmark)
Nuno Borges (Portugal) v 3-Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
Night session (0800 GMT/1900 AEDT)
7-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) v 26-Tomas Machac (Czech Republic)
Olga Danilovic (Serbia) v 7-Jessica Pegula (U.S.)
MARGARET COURT ARENA
Day session (0030 GMT/1130 AEDT)
12-Diana Shnaider (Russia) v 18-Donna Vekic (Croatia)
Jacob Fearnley (Britain) v 2-Alexander Zverev (Germany)
Night session (0800 GMT/1900 AEDT)
3-Coco Gauff (U.S.) v 30-Leylah Fernandez (Canada)
15-Jack Draper (Britain) v Aleksandar Vukic (Australia)
JOHN CAIN ARENA
27-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) v Laura Siegemund (Germany)
Roberto Carballes Baena (Spain) v 12-Tommy Paul (U.S.)
Twilight session (0600 GMT/1700 AEDT)
Naomi Osaka (Japan) v Belinda Bencic (Switzerland)
14-Ugo Humbert (France) v 20-Arthur Fils (France)
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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