Australian Open: Alcaraz, Sabalenka advance to fourth round; Jovic stuns Paolini

MELBOURNE: Top seeds Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka registered straight-sets wins to progress to the fourth round of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Friday.

Spain’s Alcaraz, chasing the only title required to achieve the Career Grand Slam, took down 32nd-seeded Frenchman Corentin Moutet 6-2, 6-4, 6-1.

However, two-time champion Sabalenka had to work hard for her 7-6(4), 7-6(7) victory over Austria’s Anastasia Potapova.

Third seed Coco Gauff had to come from behind to defeat fellow American Hailey Baptiste 3-6, 6-0, 6-3.

Alex de Minaur kept local hopes alive as the sixth seed beat 29th-seeded American Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.

Eighteen-year-old American Iva Jovic, seeded 29th, produced the upset of the day as she knocked out seventh-seeded Italian and two-time Major finalist Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 7-6(3).

With his win, Alcaraz improved to 87-13 at Slam level, tying Bjorn Borg for the best major record in 100 matches. The 22-year-old Spaniard has twice reached the quarterfinals in Melbourne.

The six-time Major winner has also surpassed legends, including Rafael Nadal and fellow ATP No. 1 Club member John McEnroe, who both went 86-14 across their first 100 major matches, as per ATP stats.

“It wasn’t easy. When you play someone like Corentin, you don’t know what’s going to be next. That’s really difficult to approach the match, but I had so much fun with it on the court. I think we both pulled off great shots, great points. I think there were a few highlights in the match. I’m grateful to play this kind of match against him,” Alcaraz said.

Sabalenka, the four-time major champion, who hasn’t lost a Grand Slam third round match since Roland Garros 2022, was stretched in Friday’s two-hour, two-minute bout, her longest outing at AO 2026 so far.

Sabalenka found herself reeled in from a 7-6(4), 4-0 lead — and eventually, saved four set points in the second-set tiebreak to wrap up the win.

“She played incredible tennis. I was always on the back foot, and to be honest, there are days where you just have to be there, to fight and try your best to put the ball back. Even though emotionally I was all over the place, I was able to still fight for every point... and I’m just super happy that I was able to get this win. It was such a fight and I really enjoyed it, Sabalenka said in her in court interview.

Potapova was eyeing to be the first Austrian to reach the fourth round at Melbourne Park since Barbara Schett in 2000.

Sabalenka, who clinched the 22nd title of her career at this month’s Brisbane International, is hoping to build upon the eight-match winning streak that she’s on in 2026.

She has now made the fourth-round or better at the last 13 Grand Slam events she has contested dating back to a third-round loss at Roland Garros in 2022.

In the fourth round, the 27-year-old Sabalenka meets her first seeded opponent at this year Australian Open in the form of Canada’s Victoria Mboko, who she has never faced.

In her Australian Open debut, the 17th seed Mboko was made to work for her 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-3 win over 14th seed Clara Tauson.

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Jovic caused the major upset of the tournament so far with a third-round defeat of No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini. The win put No. 29 seed Jovic into the second week of a major for the first time at just her sixth attempt. It’s also her first win over a Top 10 player in four meetings.

Moreover, world No. 3 American Coco Gauff registered her 77th Grand Slam match win, which came in her 100th Major match. Only Venus Williams (85) and Iga Swiatek (83) have more wins in their first 100 Grand Slam matches among active players, while Aryna Sabalenka also had 77 when reaching this milestone.

Gauff is the ninth player in the Open Era to appear in their 100th women’s singles Grand Slam main-draw match before turning 22, joining the elite company of Mary Joe Fernandez, Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Gabriela Sabatini, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams and Venus Williams.

Baptiste’s forehand was an early problem for Gauff, producing six of 12 winners from her right side to take the first set 6-3. However, the 21-year-old American quickly wrestled back momentum with a second set bagel to force a decider, the 11th 6-0 set of her Grand Slam career. Only Swiatek (32) has more since Gauff’s debut in 2019, while Sabalenka is level with her at 11.

Daniil Medvedev produced a vintage comeback from “down two sets to love and a break” to overcome world No. 47 Fabian Marozsan 6-7(5), 4-6, 7-5, 6-0, 6-3.

Medvedev has now reached the fourth round at a Grand Slam 18 times throughout his career. Since debuting at the Australian Open in 2017, only four players have done better: Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Rafael Nadal and Jannik Sinner.

Despite Marozsan’s modest serve speed, Medvedev stood in his usual returning position deep below the baseline, under the shade, and forced the Hungarian to meet his level for almost four hours.

Yulia Putintseva turned pantomime villain after taunting a raucous crowd of Turkish supporters following her 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-3 victory over qualifier Zeynep Sonmez in the third round. Agencies

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