MELBOURNE, Australia - Second round action at the Australian Open concluded on Day 4 for Team Yonex with the seeds holding true on the women’s side.
Straight Sets for the Seeds in the Second Round:
On the women’s side, [3] Naomi Osaka (JPN), [6] Belinda Bencic (SUI), [19] Donna Vekic (CRO), and [17] Angelique Kerber (GER) all advanced in straight-sets.
Bencic and Vekic both fought through former top-15 opponent to advance. For Bencic, it was 2017 Roland-Garros Champion Jelena Ostapenko. The sixth-seeded Swiss rallied from 2-5 down in the second and escaped with a 7-5, 7-5 victory.
“I started to get a little bit more loose and a little bit more aggressive,” said Bencic. “I feel like that worked well."
Vekic’s victory over Alizé Cornet marked the first time she advanced past the second round at the Australian Open in eight appearances. Vekic broke five times and her 38 winners more than doubled her opponent’s total.
Osaka was one of the first players to book her spot in the third round on Wednesday to set up a rematch with Coco Gauff. The pair met in the third round at the US Open less than five month ago, where Osaka won convincingly, 6-3, 6-0.
Kerber, who had only won four match on tour since being knocked out in the first round at the US Open, admitted getting through her first two rounds in straight sets was a welcomed sight.
“It's a great feeling to have now two matches under my belt with two sets, where I played a little bit better today than in the first round," said Kerber. "Just improving step by step, trying to play good tennis in every single round."
Flying Under the Radar:
Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) reached the third round for the first time in his career after upsetting [30] Dan Evans in three sets. Nishioka played another clean match, committing less than 20 unforced error in total.
After defeating [13] Denis Shapovalov in the first round, Marton Fucsovics (HUN) followed up one of his career-best wins with another win over a ‘NextGen’ star. Fucsovics also recorded a straight-set win, defeating Jannik Sinner, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.
To the Crowd’s Delight:
In front of a packed Melbourne Arena, Australia’s [23] Nick Kyrgios advanced in four sets. Needing the crowd's positive energy after letting a 4-2 lead in the third set slip, Kyrgios said “I put my head down. I told myself ... just get to work.”
2014 Champion [15] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) closed out his second round match with back-to-back breaks of serve in the fifth set to advance. Wawrinka will play [19] John Isner for a spot in the second week.
Did you know:
Yonex is the Official Stringing Team of the Australian Open for the fifth straight year. Our international team of experts is dedicated to providing the world standard of racquet stringing and is supported by the Made-in-Japan ProTech 8 Deluxe machine that excels in precision stringing.
With a greater focus from the players on the performance of their equipment, the team has set a new record in tournament stringing each year, with 5,813 re-strings coming in 2019 alone.
"Yonex is a great tennis brand, much-loved around the world, and a perfect fit for the Grand Slam of the Asia-Pacific,” Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said.
Follow #TeamYonex all tournament long:
Women
[3] Naomi Osaka (JPN) EZONE 98 | POLYTOUR STRIKE 125 def. Saisai Zheng, 6-2, 6-4
[6] Belinda Bencic (SUI) – EZONE 100 | POLYTOUR PRO 125 def. Jelena Ostapenko, 7-5, 7-5
[19] Donna Vekic (CRO) – VCORE 100 def. Alize Cornet, 6-4, 6-2
[17] Angelique Kerber (GER) – VCORE 100 | POLYTOUR FIRE 120 def. Priscilla Hon, 6-3, 6-2
Men
[23] Nick Kyrgios (AUS) – EZONE 98 | POLYTOUR PRO 120 def. Gilles Simon, 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5
[15] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) – VCORE PRO 97 | Melbourne Collection def. Andreas Seppi, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
Marton Fucsovics (HUN) – EZONE 98 | POLYTOUR PRO 130 / POLYTOUR PRO 125 def. Jannik Sinner, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) – VCORE 98 | POLYTOUR SPIN 125 | FUSIONREV3 | Melbourne Collection def. [30] Dan Evans, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4
