Victoria Mboko of Toronto punched her ticket to the third round of women’s singles at the Australian Open on Wednesday in Melbourne with a 6-4, 6-3 win over American Caty McNally.
The 17th-seeded Canadian will face the 14th-seeded Clara Tauson of Denmark in the next round. Tauson edged Polina Kudermetova of Uzbekistan 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in their second-round match that took one hour 53 minutes to play.
Mboko, who dispatched McNally in one hour 32 minutes, recorded an ace, 15 winners, 24 unforced errors and two double faults. McNally had no aces, 14 winners, 27 unforced errors and six double faults.
Mboko won six of nine service games and five of nine return games.
The Canadian beat wild card Emerson Jones of Australia 6-4, 6-1 in the opening round.
In women’s doubles, Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and her partner Luisa Stefani of Brazil defeated Americans Jessica Pegula and McCartney Kessler 6-4, 7-6 (3). The winners will play Elsa Jacquemot of France and Emiliana Arango of Colombia in the second round.
Dabrowski and Stefani needed one hour 46 minutes to eliminate the Americans doubles team. They had one ace and three double faults, while the Americans had no aces and no double faults.
The winners did better with their return game, winning 36 points, while the Americans took 28 points, and Dabrowski and her partner had a 55 per cent win percentage on second serve, compared to the Americans’ 33 per cent.
In another women’s double match, Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., and her partner Timea Babos of Hungary lost 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to the pairing of Cristina Bucsa of Moldova and American Nicole Melichar-Martinez in a match that took two hours four minutes to play.
Fernandez and Babos finished with two aces, seven double faults. They were only able to win two of 14 return games and 11 of 15 service games. The winners won four of 15 return games and 12 of 14 service games.
Another day, another record crowd
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz advanced in straight sets and the No. 3 seeds — Coco Gauff and Alexander Zverev — also progressed to the third round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
The combined numbers for day and night sessions, 103,720 fans, set a full-day record for the third time in four days of the main draw at the season-opening major, which has become a festival of tennis.
Two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka opened Day 4 with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Bai Zhouxuan on Rod Laver Arena, and Gauff beat left-hander Olga Danilovic 6-2, 6-2 at Margaret Court Arena.
Alcaraz fended off Yannick Hanfmann 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2 in an afternoon encounter on the center court, and then reflected on his own performance and on his golf outing with Roger Federer.
“I didn’t see myself playing that good but then talking to my team, I realized that I played better than I thought,” he said of his tough outing against the free-hitting Hanfmann. “I’m still getting used to the conditions, getting used to playing better.”
Alcaraz, 22, is trying to win his first title at Melbourne Park to become the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam.
Zverev, who lost last year’s final here to Jannik Sinner, had to wait through a half-hour rain delay and concern over a sore left ankle before beating Alexandre Muller 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
He was leading the fourth set 2-1 and serving at 15-0 when he had to stop the match and sit in a courtside chair, and ask to see the medical team.
“I took a painkiller. It was fine after that,” he said. “I was a bit scared because it was toward the Achilles tendon. I just wanted the physio to check it out. After the medical timeout I was moving fine, playing fine.”
He was playing on John Cain Arena, the third of Melbourne Park’s arenas with a retractable roof, where only ground pass tickets are needed for entry. So on a day with a massive crowd, it was still full late.
“The atmosphere is insane. The crowd is wild,” he said. “I love playing here.”
Local hope Alex de Minaur beat Hamad Medjedovic 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 on Rod Laver Arena around the same time.
“I weathered the storm. He was hitting the ball really big and deep,” said de Minaur, who is aiming to end a long drought for Aussie men at the home Grand Slam event. “I’m super happy to battle my way through.”
Sabalenka looking for 3rd title in Melbourne
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.
She raced to a 5-0 lead but then needed seven set points to take the first set against the defensive-minded Bai, who used clever drop shots to help her stay in the match.
Sabalenka will next face Anastasia Potapova, who ousted former U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu 7-6 (3), 6-2.
No. 8 Mirra Andreeva beat Maria Sakkari 6-0, 6-4, and the 12th-seeded Elina Svitolina defeated Linda Klimovicova 7-5, 6-1 a day after her husband, Gael Monfils, said goodbye at Melbourne Park in his retirement year.
Former 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.
No. 10 Alexander Bublik, No. 25 Learner Tien and No. 26 Cameron Norrie progressed along with No. 14 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who won the first two sets but then had to struggle to beat big-serving American Reilly Opelka 6-3, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 4-6, 6-4.
Coming up on Day 5
Two days after winning for the 100th time at Melbourne Park, 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic has an afternoon second-rounder against Francesco Maestrelli. The prime time night slot on Rod Laver Arena goes to two-time defending champion Sinner against Australia’s James Duckworth.
Naomi Osaka, who made quite the fashion statement in her tournament opener, has another night match against Sorana Cirstea.
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