Pegula and Swiatek lead the charge at the rain-marred Australian Open
Iga Swatek, the world number one, led the charge into the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the weather was still a factor.
Swiatek, the Polish title favourite, beat Colombia’s Camila Olsorio by 6-2,6-3 under a closed-off Rod Laver Arena roof while third seed Pegula beat Belarusian Aliaksandra Samnovich 6-2-7-6 (7/5).
Maria Sakkari of Greece also made it through, but she was anything but sixth in a 3-6-7-5, 6-3 battle against Diana Shnaider, a Russian qualifier.
Only matches in the three main stadiums with roofs could start on time because of persistent rain. This created a scheduling problem that led to hours lost due to the weather conditions.
It was followed by torrential rain, intense heat and torrential rainfall on Tuesday. Long delays ensued and many matches were cancelled.
Swiatek admitted that she felt she needed an extra “intensity” after passing a first-round test. She found it in Osorio, world number 84.
She said, “It was very intense physically and Camila did not give me many points free of charge, so I had to really work for each and every one.”
In the third round, the three-time major winner will be facing either Bianca Andreescu of Canada (2019 US Open champion) or Cristina Bucsa (Spanish qualifier).
Pegula beat Swiatek at this month’s United Cup. She was a clinical player in the first set against 38th-ranked Sasnovich. But she put her best foot forward in the second.
However, she was satisfied with her performance before the next round clash against Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine or Olivia Gadecki of Australia.
Pegula said, “My game suits the Australian conditions.” “Every tournament you want it to be one match at the time, but also have high goals.”
– Sinner’s Walk –
Jannik Sinner, the 15th seed in Italy, lost just seven games to Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3.
He will be playing either South African Lloyd Harris, or Hungary’s Marton Fucisovics.
Rafael Nadal (defending champion) is up against American Mackenzie McDonald, 65th in ranking.
Both third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas (seventh seed) and seventh seed Daniil Mevedev (who was defeated in last year’s final in a five-set thriller by Nadal) are set to appear.
Medvedev will need to deal with the home fans when meeting John Millman of Australia.
Tsitsipas has yet to win a major but will face another Australian in Rinky Hiijikata at 169th rank.
American Coco Gauff, a former US Open champion, and Emma Raducanu from Britain meet in the evening session at Rod Laver Arena.
Raducanu, 20 and Gauff, 18 years old, have never played against each other.
The Briton has achieved something that Gauff could not do: she won a major. However, the American is ranked seventh to her opponent’s 77th.
Gauff is also in great form. She won an Auckland warm-up tournament, which brought her a third WTA championship.
Raducanu, in addition to her patchy form and injuries, has been afflicted by a series of injuries since she shocked the tennis world when she won the US Open 2021 as a teenager qualifier.
Gauff said Raducanu is under pressure after he was in doubt about his ability to come into Melbourne following yet another injury.
“Obviously, she’s been through a lot pressure since her sudden appearance on the scene. Gauff stated that it was more pressure than she had experienced when she won a Slam.
“It’s a lot more stressful than being an American, especially being from the UK. Being the first British person to do anything in a long period of time is probably something I feel most pressured to be.”
Danielle Collins, the Australian Open runner up last year, will be attempting to win her maiden major title. She will meet Karolina Muchova from the Czech Republic.
mp/dh