Australian Open 2024 Results: Instant Reactions to Wednesday's Winners and Losers
Novak Djokovic has not had the easiest start to the 2024 Australian Open.
The 10-time Australian Open winner was pushed to a fourth set for the second straight round inside Rod Laver Arena.
Djokovic fended off the challenge from Alexei Popyrin to win in four sets, but the early struggles suggest the 36-year-old might be beatable in Melbourne.
The women's singles draw still has the top title contenders alive, but the field is opening up beneath Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff.
Ons Jabeur and Maria Sakkari became the second and third top-10 players to lose in the women's draw.
Both players were stunned in straight-set losses to unseeded players, and those results opened up clearer paths for Gauff and Sabalenka to meet in the semifinals.
Gauff's straight-set win headlined a solid day for the American contingent down under. The only blemish for the top American players was the upset suffered by Frances Tiafoe.
Wednesday Results
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Men's Singles
No. 1 Novak Djokovic def. Alexei Popyrin, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2
No. 4 Jannik Sinner def. Jesper de Jong, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2
No. 5 Andrey Rublev def. Chris Eubanks, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas def. Jordan Thompson, 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-2, 7-6 (4)
No. 10 Alex de Minaur def. Matteo Arnaldi, 6-3, 6-0, 6-3
No. 12 Taylor Fritz def. Hugo Gaston, 6-0, 6-3, 6-1
No. 15 Karen Khachanov def. Aleksander Kovacevic, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
No. 16 Ben Shelton def. Christopher O'Connell, 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5)
Tomas Machac def. No. 17 Frances Tiafoe, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (5)
No. 20 Adrian Mannarino def. Jaume Munar, 6-3, 6-3, 1-6, 2-6, 6-3
Fabian Marozsan def. No. 22 Francisco Cerundolo, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-2
Luca Van Assche def. No. 25 Lorenzo Musetti, 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-0
No. 26 Sebastian Baez def. Daniel Galan, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
No. 29 Sebastian Korda def. Quentin Halys, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
No. 30 Tomas Etcheverry def. Gael Monfils, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
Women's Singles
No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka def. Brenda Fruhvirtova, 6-3, 6-2
No. 4 Coco Gauff def. Caroline Dolehide, 7-6 (2), 6-2
Mirra Andreeva def. No. 6 Ons Jabeur, 6-0, 6-2
Elina Avanesyan def. No. 8 Maria Sakkari, 6-4, 6-4
No. 9 Barbora Krejcikova def. Tamara Korpatsch, 6-2, 6-2
No. 10 Beatriz Haddad Maia def. Alina Korneeva, 6-1, 6-2
Magdalena Frech def. No. 16 Caroline Garcia, 6-4, 7-6 (2)
Marta Kostyuk def. No. 25 Elise Mertens, 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (6)
No. 28 Lesia Tsurenko def. Rebeka Masarova, 6-3, 6-4
Alycia Parks def. No. 32 Leylah Fernandez, 7-5, 6-4
Novak Djokovic Earns Second Straight Four Set Win
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Djokovic has not been perfect in his opening two matches in Melbourne.
The 36-year-old Serbian dropped one set in his win over Popyrin on Wednesday.
The four-set win came two days after he defeated qualifier Dino Prizmic in four sets.
Djokovic typically cruises through the first few rounds of Grand Slam tournaments, and that ends up benefiting him in the long run because his on-court time is as low as anyone in the field.
Djokovic spent three hours and 11 minutes on court at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday.
Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev, the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds, each spent less than two hours on court for their respective straight-set wins on Wednesday.
Sinner, Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, the three biggest challengers to Djokovic's spot in the final, would love to see the top seed play more three-hour-plus matches so that potentially wears him down.
That may be a problem in the third round, though, since Djokovic has a 2-0 record with two straight-set wins in his career against Tomas Etcheverry.
Ons Jabeur, Maria Sakkari Upset
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The bottom half of the women's singles draw opened up with the losses suffered by Jabeur and Sakkari.
Jabeur, the No. 6 seed, lost at the start of Wednesday's play to 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva.
The eighth-seeded Sakkari fell in straight sets to Elina Avanesyan to close out Wednesday's play in Melbourne.
Jabeur suffered a second-round elimination for the second straight Australian Open. She has not made it past the third round in Melbourne since she reached the 2020 quarterfinals.
Jabeur achieved success at the other three majors, unlike Sakkari, who is on a wretched run of form at Grand Slams.
Sakkari has not gotten past the fourth round at her last nine majors and she has not made it to the third round in her last four Grand Slam appearances.
Wednesday's two major upsets made Sabalenka, Gauff and Barbora Krejcikova the only top-10 seeds left in the bottom half.
In fact, 11 of the 16 players who advanced to the third round on Wednesday were unseeded.
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Most Top Americans Advance to Third Round
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Six Americans advanced to the third round with wins on Wednesday.
Gauff and men's No. 12 seed Taylor Fritz headlined the victories from the American contingent.
Fritz cruised to a three-set victory in which he lost just four of the 22 games played. That was a big win in terms of confidence for Fritz after he needed five sets to get out of the first round.
Gauff produced her second straight-set win over the tournament. This one came over unseeded American Caroline Dolehide.
Gauff will face another unseeded American, Alycia Parks, in the third round. Parks upset No. 32 seed Leylah Fernandez in straight sets.
Gauff, Parks and Amanda Anisimova are through to third round on the women's side, and they could be joined by as many as five of their countrywomen who play on Thursday.
Fritz, Ben Shelton and Sebastian Korda are the best American chances to win the men's singles title. All of them won on Wednesday.
Shelton is one win away from facing Djokovic, Fritz could face Tsitsipas in the fourth round and Korda faces Rublev on Friday.
Tiafoe's upset loss in straight sets was a tough blow to the American chances of winning in Melbourne, but he has not played well in Melbourne in his career. Tiafoe has been eliminated in the first three round in the last five Australian Opens.
No. 14 seed Tommy Paul can join the American contenders in the third round with a win on Thursday.
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