Australian Open Day 6: Jessica Pegula Falls, Naomi Osaka retires early, Jack Draper wins in five exhausting sets

Day 6 of Australian Open saw a number of big names in male and female singles easily go to the next round. But a major loss was noted n ° 7 Jessica Pegulawho was defeated in two sets by Serbian Olga Danilović.

Pegula and Danilović fought in the first set, the Serbian winning in an equality break, 7-3. But in the second set, the American has completely wobble, allowing Danilović to win a 6-1 victory and to secure the match with relative ease.

Pegula, who made the quarter -finals of the Australian Open for three consecutive years, is now released early. Danilović, 23 ,, meanwhile, will go to the fourth round of Australian Open for the first time in his young career – and has a fan of his Serbian compatriot Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic, ranked n ° 7, had his own success on Friday, beating the Czech player Tomas Machac In right sets, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. The 37-year-old Serb has now made the fourth round of the Australian Open every year since 2007, with only two exceptions (2017, when he was upset in the second round, and 2022, when he did not compete due to a saga implying that he is not vaccinated against COVVI-19).

N ° 2 Alexander Zverev Also won in straight sets, the Germans beating the United Kingdom Jacob Fearnley 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Aryna SabalenkaThe female n ° 1, launched the day with a 7-6 victory (5), 6-4 against the Danish player Clara Tauson. N ° 3 Coco Gauff won a victory in his own sets, beating n ° 30 Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-2. The young American defeated the young Canadian typical of Gauff, making delicate sweet touches and an aggressive game for easy victory.

N ° 3 Carlos Alcaraz Portuguese player defeated Nuno Borges In four sets, 6-2, 6-4, 6 (3) -7, 6-2. After taking an advance of two sets, Alcaraz has weakened in the third set, letting Borges catch up and win the break in equality. But the 21 -year -old Spaniard did not stay long, easily returning the next set to go to the fourth round. Alcaraz succeeded in a typical way: to place fair shots and using his endurance to survive his opponent.

Unfortunately, Naomi OsakaThe return attempt ended. Osaka, who has had injuries in recent years, has made the third round of the open for the first time in three years. His match against the Swiss player Belinda Bencic started well, Bencic barely taking the first triggering a break in equality, 7-6 (3). But Osaka was forced to withdraw early from the match due to a tense abdominal muscle.

Osaka had retired early from the Auckland Open final this month, also with an abdominal injury. It is not known if the injury will affect if it can play in the future.

In the most exhausting match of the day, n ° 15 Jack draper won a five sets victory against Australia Aleksandar Vukic6-4, 2-6, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (8). It took almost four hours and an equality break of 18 points so that Draper won the victory. The two players had made five complete sets in their two previous games, which makes the match on Friday even more a marathon.

Draper, at the end, survived Vukic, making an impressive success around the post in the process.

“My body does not feel too well. Fortunately I have a good physio,” admitted draper after the match. He credited the crowd for giving him the energy to continue to cross the five set.

DRAPER will need this energy in two days: he should face Alcaraz, who is notoriously strong in matches in five sets, in the fourth round on Sunday.