Australian Open 2024: Alcaraz, Swiatek advance; Rune, Pegula upset
Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek lost second sets, but rallied to win in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday in Melbourne. Jessica Pegula and Holger Rune exited with upset losses on Day 5 of the Grand Slam.
Alcaraz, the men's No. 2 seed, beat unseeded Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-6(3) at Rod Laver Arena. He totaled 12 aces, 43 winners and converted 3 of 6 break point opportunities in the match, while battling strong winds in Melbourne Park.
"I'm really happy with my performance," Alcaraz said on the ESPN broadcast. "I think both of us played at such a great level, with high intensity. The match was a bit tricky with the wind. It was tough to play your best, but we tried."
Alcaraz will battle wild card Juncheng Shang of China in the third round. The winner will meet No. 14 Tommy Paul of the United States or unseeded Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia in the fourth round.
Paul advanced to the third round with a 6,2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Jack Draper of England.
No. 6 Alexander Zverev of Germany, No. 9 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, No. 11 Casper Ruud of Norway and No. 13 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria were among the top men to advance on Day 5.
Ruud will meet No. 19 Cameron Norrie of England in the third round. The winner will face Zverev or American Alex Michelsen in the fourth round.
Wild card Arthur Cazaux of France upset No. 8 Holger Rune of Denmark. Cazaux fired 18 aces and 51 winners and converted 3 of 8 break points in the four-set victory. Rune totaled six aces and 48 winners. He logged 40 unforced errors and converted 1 of 4 break points.
In the women's singles circuit, No. 1 Swiatek of Poland beat American Danielle Collins 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Swiatek edged Collins 35-28 in winners and 7-6 in converted break points.
"I didn't feel like I had control of the match, but I wanted to fight until the end," Swiatek told reporters. "I knew that, as I said post-match, it's hard for anybody to keep the level Danielle showed in the second set."
Swiatek will meet unseeded Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic in the third round. The winner of that match will battle No. 19 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine or Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland in the fourth round, with a trip to the quarterfinals on the line.
Like Wednesday, upsets were again a major factor on Day 5. Clara Burel beat No. 5 Jessica Pegula of the United States in straight sets. Burel edged Pegula 2-0 in aces, 17-9 in winners and 5-2 in break-point conversions in the 6-4, 6-2 victory.
Russian Anna Blinkova also scored an upset, eliminating 2023 runner-up Elena Rybakina (No. 3) of Kazakhstan 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(20).
Blinkova needed 10 match point opportunities in the win. The third-set, 42-point tiebreaker was the longest in women's Grand Slam history and longest overall at the Australian Open, in the men's or women's singles circuits.
Blinkova will face No. 26 Jasmine Paolini of Italy in the third round. The winner of that match will meet American Sloane Stephens or Russian Anna Kalinskaya in the fourth round.
Stephens advanced with a Day 5 upset of No. 14 Daria Kasatkina of Russia.
With the Rybakina and Pegula exits, just five of the Top 10 women's players remain active in the singles tournament. None of those players are in the top half of the draw, meaning Swiatek can't face a Top 10 foe until the final.
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka (No. 2) of Belarus, No. 4 Coco Gauff of the United States, No. 9 Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and No. 10 Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil will be among the top women's players in action Friday at the Australian Open.
No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia, No. 4 Jannik Sinner of Italy, No. 5 Andrey Rublev of Russia, No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and No. 10 Alex de Minaur of Australia will be among the top men's players competing on Day 6.
Coverage of the Australian Open will resume at 11 a.m. EST Thursday on ESPN2. Additional coverage will start at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ and 9 p.m. on ESPN.
