The tournament, which was held in Melbourne, received the next shock, on Sunday, by losing Poland’s Iga Swiatek in the women’s singles. As the world’s No. 1 player, the 21-year-old was the favorite for the overall win, but she was caught off guard by Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina: 4-6 4-6. Tunisian second seed Anas Jabeur had already been knocked out of the Australian Open in the first round.
Among men, the highest-ranked tennis players have already disappeared from the tournament after the second round. Defending champion Rafael Nadal fell to American Mackenzie McDonald, although he may use a thigh injury as an excuse. As for the Norwegian star Casper Rudd II, he bowed in front of the American Jenson Broxby.
Among women, it remains No. 3 in the standings at the tournament. American Jessica Pegula convincingly defeated Czech Barbora Krejkova in the fourth round and advanced to the quarter-finals. Among the men, third-placed Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas will compete with Italian Yannick Sener for a place in the quarter-finals.
Pegula did not consider herself rich after beating former Roland Garros winner Krejikova. “I have a great opportunity,” Pegula said afterwards, “because I’m playing my best tennis, but I don’t immediately see myself as a great candidate.” “Yelena Ostapenko once won the French Open and still is at it, and Elena Rybakina won Wimbledon last year and she’s still at it, so it doesn’t look like the highest-ranked player ever.”
