Australian Open day six: Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka ease through
Novak Djokovic avoided his struggles of the first two rounds in a straight-sets win over Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the Australian Open on Friday.
His fellow defending champion, Aryna Sabalenka, routed Lesia Tsurenko 6-0 6-0 while 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva recovered from 5-1 down in the deciding set to beat Diane Parry.
It was generally a good day for the big names, with Coco Gauff, Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas also winning.
Picture of the day
Tweet of the day
Andreeva down 5-1 in third. Commentator “she really needs to work on mental side of her game.. she’s too hard on herself when she’s losing”30 minutes later 7-6 Andreeva wins.Maybe the reason she turned the match round is because of her mental strength. Maybe she turned the…
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) January 19, 2024
Rod back in his house
Hello Melbourne, the rocket has landed! I’ll be making my first appearance at #AO2024 tomorrow, Sat. 20 Jan, as a Dunlop Ambassador. Please drop by and say hello at Autograph Island in the south east corner of Garden Square at 10.30am. #AODunlop #TeamDunlop #LoveTheGame 🚀 pic.twitter.com/gUCASGygfv
— Rod Laver (@rodlaver) January 19, 2024
Outfit of the day
Matching. Koala. Outfits 🐨
Ariel Behar & Adam Pavlasek with the look of the tournament 😍 #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/7Y69zALpUO
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 19, 2024
Fallen seeds
Women: Beatriz Haddad Maia (10), Lesia Tsurenko (28)
Men: Ben Shelton (16), Sebastian Baez (26), Sebastian Korda (29), Tomas Martin Etcheverry (30)
Who’s up next?
Britain’s final singles hope, Cameron Norrie, takes on Casper Ruud for a place in the fourth round.
Chinese players take centre stage in the day on Rod Laver Arena, with Zheng Qinwen meeting Wang Yafan before Shang Juncheng faces Carlos Alcaraz.
Iga Swiatek is first up in the night session against Czech teenager Linda Noskova, while Daniil Medvedev meets Felix Auger-Aliassime.