Jan. 15 (UPI) — Coco Gauff swept Jodie Burrage, while Naomi Osaka upset Karolina Muchova to advance to the third round Wednesday at the 2025 Australian Open. Both players need just one more win to set up a fourth-round meeting.
Gauff stayed unbeaten in 2025 at 5-0 and extended an overall winning streak of 11 matches with her 6-3, 7-5 victory over her British foe. The top-ranked (No. 3) American women’s or men’s player totaled three aces, 14 winners and 18 unforced errors.
She also converted 5 of 11 break point opportunities in the 89-minute match.
“It wasn’t my best tennis off the serve, but off the ground I thought I didn’t play too bad,” Gauff told reporters. “I knew she was going to come in being aggressive.”
Gauff advanced to face No. 29 Leylah Fernandez of Canada in the third round. The winner will face Osaka or No. 294 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in the fourth round, with a ticket to the quarterfinals on the line.
“She’s gonna be aggressive,” Gauff said of Fernandez. “That’s her game. She’s a great mover. She’s gonna hit some great shots. She’s a great player, a slam finalist and has great results against top players.
“So I expect her to play great tennis and just hope I can do the same.”
Fernandez beat No. 110 Cristina Bucsa of Spain 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in her second-round match. Osaka, ranked No. 51 player in the WTA singles rankings, beat Muchova 1-6, 6-1, 6-3. The Japanese tennis star totaled six aces, 33 winners and 27 unforced errors against her Czech opponent. She converted just 4 of 17 break point chances.
Muchova, ranked No. 20, logged four aces, 27 winners and 29 unforced errors. She also converted 2 of 6 break point opportunities.
Bencic advanced with a straight-sets win over No. 77 Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands.
No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 6 Jessica Pegula of the United States, No. 12 Paula Badosa of Spain, No. 13 Diana Shnaider of Russia and No. 15 Mirra Andreeva of Russia were among the other top women to advance on Day 4 of the Grand Slam.
No. 5 Zheng Qinwen of China became the highest-ranked women’s or men’s player — so far — to leave early through an upset. She lost in straight sets to No. 97 Laura Siegemund of Germany.
On the men’s side, No. 2 Alexander Zverev of Germany swept No. 44 Pedro Martinez of Spain 6-1, 6-4, 6-1. No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain bounced No. 65 Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan in straight sets.
No. 7 Novak Djokovic of Serbia beat No. 125 Jaime Faria of Portugal 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-2 to earn his ticket to the third round. No. 12 Tommy Paul of the United States won his second-round match 3-6(3), 6-0, 6-3, 6-1 over No. 76 Kei Nishikori of Japan to advance.
No. 6 Casper Ruud of Norway was the latest top men’s player to exit via upset. He dropped a four-set match to No. 48 Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic. No. 68 Aleksandar Vukic of Australia also ousted No. 22 Sebastian Korda of the United States in a five-set, 3-hour, 17-minute victory.
No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland, No. 4 Jasmine Paolini of Italy, No. 7 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, No. 8 Emma Navarro of the United States, No. 10 Daria Kasatkina of Russia and No. 11 Danielle Collins of the United States are among the top women expected to compete at the Grand Slam.
Coverage of Thursday’s second-round matches in Melbourne, which is 16 hours ahead of EST in the United States, will start at 7 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN+ and 9 p.m. on ESPN2.
