Bad times for the 4th in the world: Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz were both eliminated on Saturday in the 3rd round of the Australian Open, while No.1 Jannik Sinner extended his invincibility to 17 consecutive matches without defeat.
– Monfils, the roller coaster against Fritz –
At the age of 38, Gaël Monfils (41st in the world) dominated in four sets and more than three hours the finalist of the last US Open Taylor Fritz (4th), Saturday in the 3rd round of the Australian Open.
Winner 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 against the 4th in the world, Monfils recorded his eighth success in a row.
“I’m happy with the way I played, it’s not every day that we manage to apply a tactic,” said the Parisian, delighted to have succeeded against “a big player “.
Since 128-player draws were introduced in Melbourne in 1988, only 20-time major winner Roger Federer had managed to reach the round of 16 at an older age than Monfils.
The Frenchman will face the American Ben Shelton (20th) in the next round.
In the evening, world No.1 Jannik Sinner easily dominated the American Marcos Giron (46th) to join Alexander Zverev (2nd), Carlos Alcaraz (3rd) and Novak Djokovic (7th) in the round of 16.
Thanks to his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory, the defending champion in Melbourne achieved a 17th victory in a row.
The double Grand Slam winner (Australian Open and US Open 2024) will face Dane Holger Rune (13th) or Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic (51st) in the round of 16.
Last local player in the men’s draw, the Australian Alex De Minaur (8th) conceded his first set of the fortnight on Saturday but beat the Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo (31st) in four sets to climb among the last sixteen in the running.
The young American nugget Learner Tien (121st at 19 years old), who surprised the 5th in the world Daniil Medvedev in the 2nd round, continued his journey by dominating the Frenchman Corentin Moutet (69th) in three sets.
– Svitolina sort Paolini –
-A few hours after the elimination of the men’s No.4, the 4th in the world Jasmine Paolini was also eliminated in the 3rd round, by the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.
The 27th player in the world won the game 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 and will cross swords with a Russian player in the round of 16, Veronika Kudermetova (75th).
Asked about the secret of her resilience after losing the first set to Paolini, Svitolina stressed that “all Ukrainians have this fighting spirit”, even though her country has been at war with Russia for almost three years. “At every level, we are fighting for what is ours,” she added.
Earlier in the day, the Polish Iga Swiatek (2nd) had lined up a fourth victory in as many duels against the British Emma Raducanu (61st), winner of the US Open in 2021.
The five-time Grand Slam winner won 6-1, 6-0 and thus joined her rivals Aryna Sabalenka (1st), double title holder, and Coco Gauff (3rd) in the round of 16.
She will challenge the German Eva Lys (128th) for a place in the quarterfinals.
After two difficult first matches, the American Emma Navarro (8th) won a third match in three sets in a row, against the triple Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur (39th): 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 .
“I love tennis so much that I can’t help but go to three sets,” joked the semi-finalist of the last US Open.
She will face the Russian Daria Kasatkina (10th) in the next round, who dismissed the Kazakh Yulia Putintseva (23rd) 7-5, 6-1 on Saturday.
World No. 7 Elena Rybakina, winner of Wimbledon in 2022 and finalist in Melbourne in 2023, is also in the round of 16 after her 6-3, 6-4 success against the Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska (33rd).
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