Sabalenka, Gauff, Alcaraz reach 3rd round at Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, two of the top three women's seeds at the Australian Open, both reached the third round Wednesday.

And the top-seeded man, Carlos Alcaraz, joined them.

Top-seeded Sabalenka defeated Bai Zhouxuan of China 6-3, 6-1 at Rod Laver Arena, and No. 3 Gauff won over left-hander Olga Danilovic 6-2, 6-2 at Margaret Court Arena.

Alcaraz defeated Germany's Yannick Hanfmann in a tough match for the Spaniard, who prevailed 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2.

“I knew he (Hanfmann) was going to play great,” Alcaraz said. “I knew his level. We'd played a few times already. But to be honest, it was tougher than I thought.”

“The ball was coming as a bomb — forehand, backhand, so I had to be ready for that,” Alcaraz added of Hanfmann's shot making.

Alcaraz, 22, is trying to win his first title at Melbourne Park to become the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam.

Sabalenka won the Australian Open in 2023 and 2024 and was the runner-up a year ago against Madison Keys. She is after her fifth Grand Slam title and has two trophies at the U.S. Open.

Gauff has never advanced past the semifinals in Australia and has Grand Slam titles from the French Open and U.S. Open.

Sabalenka raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set but then needed seven set points at Rod Laver Arena to take the set against the defensive-minded Chinese player, who used clever drop shots to help her stay in the match.

Sabalenka will next face Anastasia Popapova, who defeated 28th-seeded and former U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu 7-6 (3), 6-2.

“I was happy to get this win, a tricky opponent,” Sabalenka said. "She really stepped in in the first set.”

Sabalenka led 4-0 in the second set and overpowered the smaller Bai. Sabalenka even tried a bit of serve-and-volley in the match, trying to diversify her game.

“You saw serve-and-volley today," Sabalenka said. “It didn’t really work well, but I did one.”

Bai was making her second appearance in the Australian Open and reached the second round for the first time.

In another women's match, 12th-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine defeated Linda Klimovicova of Poland 7-5, 6-1. Gael Monfils, a popular 39-year-old Frenchman and Svitolina's husband, said goodbye at Melbourne Park in his retirement year, losing on Tuesday in a first-round match to qualifier Dane Sweeny.

In another women's match, Zeynep Sönmez of Turkey, who was highly praised during her first-round match Sunday for assisting an ill ballkid, advanced to the third round after beating Anna Bondar 6-2, 6-4.

Sönmez played at one of Melbourne Park’s outside courts and the stands were crammed with members of Melbourne’s Turkish community.

“I really appreciated there were many Turkish people, and I felt like I was at home,” she said. “At first I couldn’t even hear my own thoughts. It was very, very loud.”

In men's results, 2021 U.S. Open winner and 11th-seeded Daniil Medvedev beat Quentin Halys 6-7 (9), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, 13th-seeded Andrey Rublev beat Jaime Faria 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 and 19th-seeded Tommy Paul defeated Thiago Agustin Tirante 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.