Belinda Bencic (WTA 294) takes advantage of the abandonment of Naomi Osaka (51) during the tie-break of the 1st set to reach the 8th round of the Australian Open – rts.ch

One year after her final in Melbourne, Zheng Qinwen (WTA 5) is the first favorite to leave Melbourne. The 22-year-old Chinese, Olympic champion, was beaten 7-6 (7/3) 6-3 by doubles specialist Laura Siegemund (97), oldest, at 36, in the women’s draw. “I tried to be extremely aggressive, not try any crazy shots and instead stick to my game plan,” Siegemund said. Title holder, Aryna Sabalenka (1) dominated the Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (54) 6-3 7-5 during this 2nd round. The Belarusian was still led 5-2 in the second set.