Coco Gauff, Sabalenka, Djokovic and Alcaraz have it easy at Australian Open

MELBOURNE: Coco Gauff still hasn’t lost a match or even a set at the Australian Open — or, actually, this season. She moved into the fourth round at Melbourne Park with a straightforward 6-4, 6-2 victory over 2021 US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez on Friday night.

While there have been plenty of surprises in the men’s bracket so far, most of the top women, other than No. 5 Zheng Qinwen, have progressed through the draw without an issue. That includes wins on Friday for No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who is the two-time defending champion in Australia, No. 3 Gauff, No. 11 Paula Badosa and No. 14 Mirra Andreeva.

Men’s winners in third-round action included No. 2 Alexander Zverev, No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz, No. 7 Novak Djokovic and No. 12 Tommy Paul. Djokovic — who won 10 of his 24 Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open — overcame some mid-match breathing trouble to dismiss No. 26 Tomas Machac 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 at night.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina had a much more difficult path, coming back from two sets down for the second match in a row and saving two match points to sneak past 19-year-old Jakub Mensik 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-2. Davidovich Fokina is the first man since 2005 to win twice in a row in Australia after falling behind 0-2 in sets.

A year ago, 2023 US Open champion Gauff had her best run in Melbourne, getting to the semifinals before bowing out against Sabalenka, who extended her winning streak at the tournament to 17 matches by eliminating Clara Tauson 7-6 (5), 6-4 on Friday.

Like Gauff, Sabalenka is unbeaten in the early going in 2025. They could meet in the semifinals again this time around next weekend.

Gauff needed just 75 minutes to get past Fernandez, a left-hander who was seeded 30th. Gauff was broken just once and compiled an 18-7 advantage in total winners.

It was Gauff’s second recent win over Fernandez, after beating her in the United Cup team competition. That is part of Gauff’s 8-0 record, 16-0 in sets, so far this season.

Neither Sabalenka nor Tauson served all that well in Rod Laver Arena.

The first seven games of the match were all breaks, and Tauson was the first to hold, leading 5-3. But that’s when Sabalenka began to get going.

Next for her is a match-up with 17-year-old Andreeva, a 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 winner against No. 23 Magdalena Frech. Badosa barely emerged to beat No. 17 Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, and 2021 French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 27th seed, defeated Laura Siegemund 6-1, 6-2.

Alcaraz ceded a set for the first time this week but beat Nuno Borges 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-2, Zverev defeated Jacob Fearnley 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, and Paul got past Robert Carballes Baena 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-0.