Australian Open: Swiatek mercilessly, Fritz too before a shock against Monfils

Iga Swiatek (2nd in the world) and Taylor Fritz (4th) left only crumbs for their opponents Thursday in the 2nd round of the Australian Open, Gaël Monfils also qualifying to offer himself a shock against the American .

Swiatek souffles Sramkova

On a Rod Laver Arena swept by a chilly wind, world No.2 Iga Swiatek did not have time to catch a cold, dispatching Rebecca Sramkova 6-0, 6-2 in about an hour.

“I felt very solid, I played my game very efficiently”congratulated the Pole just after her express victory, “glad to have kept (her) concentration”.

In the 3rd round, the five-time Grand Slam winner will face Briton Emma Raducanu, winner of the US Open in 2021 but has since fallen to 61st place.

The Kazakh Elena Rybakina (7th) was barely less ruthless than Swiatek, conceding only three games to her opponent, the young 17-year-old American Iva Jovic.

She will face the Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska (33rd) in the third round, even more expeditious on Thursday against the Montenegrin Danka Kovinic (1289th) outclassed 6-0, 6-1 in 51 minutes.

The path of Emma Navarro (8th) in Melbourne is more tortuous: as in the 1st round, the semi-finalist of the last US Open once again needed three sets to win in the 2nd round against Wang Xiyu, dominated 6- 3, 3-6, 6-4.

In the next round, the American will face the Tunisian Ons Jabeur (39th), three-time Grand Slam finalist.

The Italian Jasmine Paolini (4th) must play her second round on Thursday in the second part of the evening at the Rod Laver Arena, against the Mexican Renata Zarazua (70th).

Monfils received 7/7, while waiting for Sinner and Medvedev

At over 38 years old, French veteran Gaël Monfils continued the momentum of his recent victory at the Auckland tournament to achieve a seventh victory in a row on Thursday in the 2nd round, against the German Daniel Altmaier (101st): 7- 5, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).

Apart from Novak Djokovic (7th), ten-time winner in Melbourne, no active player has reached the 3rd round of the Australian Open as often as the Parisian, who achieved this performance for the 12th time on Thursday.

He will face world No.4 Taylor Fritz in the next round, without pity for the Chilean Cristian Garin (150th), dominated 6-2, 6-1, 6-0.

The two players had already faced each other in 2019 in Melbourne and the American took the upper hand in four sets in the 2nd round.

“It’s going to be a big match, Taylor is very confident, he hits very hard… It’s up to me to try to find a solution to try to win! »cautiously asserted “The Monf” at a press conference.

At the start of the evening, the Italian title holder Jannik Sinner (1st) will enter the court of the Rod Laver Arena to play his 2nd round against the Australian Tristan Schoolkate (173rd), beneficiary of an invitation from the organizers of the first Grand Slam of the season.

On the neighboring court of the Margaret Court Arena, the Russian Daniil Medvedev (5th) is expected in the second part of the evening to face the young American talent Learner Tien (121st at 19 years old) in the 2nd round.

In the first round, the finalist of three of the last four editions of the Australian Open took five sets to get rid of the modest Thai Kasidit Samrej (418th).

A sensation at the start of the tournament after his clear victory against Andrey Rublev (9th), the young Brazilian Joao Fonseca (112th at 18 years old) is battling with the Italian Lorenzo Sonego (55th) to confirm this thunderous entry into the running. Thursday around 6:45 p.m. (07:45 GMT), the two players had each scored a set.

In the French camp, Corentin Moutet (69th) became at the end of the afternoon the 5th and last French player to qualify for the 3rd round, the best total since 2017 at this stage of the competition in the men’s table. He won in four sets against the American Mitchell Krueger (146th).

The last French survivor among the ladies, Varvara Gracheva (also 69th) however lost in three sets against the German Eva Lys (128th).