Raducanu bounced from Australian Open

2ND ROUND UPSET

Danka Kovinic will take her No. 98 world ranking into the third round of the Australian Open after stunning Britain's Emma Raducanu in three sets.

Raducanu, the reigning U.S. Open champion, took the court with a heavily bandaged hand and index finger because of blisters on her racket hand but surged to a 3-0 lead and held her own for most of the match before falling 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

“Before the match there were some people in my team who didn't want me to play. I thought it was a pretty good learning experience for me — I learned I had some tools that I didn't know I had before,” said Raducanu, 19, the No. 17 seed. “I do not hit slice forehands, I probably hit more in that match than I did in the last three years. I've learned that I have some hand skills, and it's not too bad — that was a positive surprise for myself. I'm proud of how I kept fighting — even in those situations where I was struggling. I kept hanging in there, I'm proud of that as well.”

France's Alize Cornet, unseeded at the Australian Open, took down third-seeded Garbine Muguruza 6-3, 6-3 and the 61st-ranked player in the world needed only 90 minutes to notch the win.

Raducanu said her fitness level was not to expectations thanks to a bout with COVID-19 in December that forced her out of last week's event at Adelaide. She advanced to the second round in Melbourne with an opening victory against American Sloane Stephens 6-0, 2-6, 6-1.

Unseeded Kovinic, of Montenegro, has never reached the final 32 of a Grand Slam event. Heat seemed to play a factor for both players, and Kovinic employed an extended bathroom break after frustration surfaced in her failure to close out the injured foe in two sets.

“It was a really nice experience to play Emma here and make the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time after many years,” Kovinic said. “Emma has had amazing results, winning a Grand Slam at such a young age. She is an amazing talent. I'm just so happy I could play such a high level.”

Romania's Simona Halep, the 14th seed, advanced in a straight sets win over Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia.

On the men's side, Russian Daniil Medvedev fought off home-country favourite Nick Kyrgios and a noisy crowd on Thursday to advance to the third round.

With the crowd at Rod Laver Arena solidly behind the Australian Kyrgios, Medvedev pulled out a 7-6 (1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory that took nearly three hours.

Kyrgios had topped Medvedev, the No. 2 seed, in each of their past two meetings.

“Against Nick, it's a tough matchup,” Medvedev said. “I know he can serve big, and that's already really tough. I felt like I was returning really well today and yet to break him it was really tough.”

Even in the face of a raucous crowd, Medvedev was unrattled. He struck 31 aces and had 68 winners against 29 unforced errors. He won 85 per cent of the points on his first serve, compared to 74 for Kyrgios, who hit 47 winners and 31 unforced errors.

Kyrgios, known for his showmanship, was seeking his first victory against a top five player since 2019.

“I thought the atmosphere was awesome,” Kyrgios said. “That's what sport is. You've got the most entertaining player playing in his home slam on Rod Laver. You'd expect the crowd to be like that.”