Australian Open: Parry, Sinner, Sabalenka... what to remember from the night in Melbourne

Terrible defeat for Diane Parry, yet so close to a first round of 16 in a Grand Slam. The 21-year-old Frenchwoman led 5-1 in the last set against prodigy Mirra Andreeva, before suffering a painful Remontada. Five games in a row conceded and a match point escaped, 5 games to 3, on the young Russian's serve. The Boulonnaise tensed up at the worst moment against the young 16-year-old player, more enterprising than her, in particular, in the super tie-break. Small consolation. Parry can say to herself that she held up much better than at the last Roland-Garros, Andreeva where she was swept away by the Russian 6-1, 6-2...

Difficult baptism on the Rod Laver Arena for Luca Van Assche who discovered the third round of a Grand Slam, this Friday in Melbourne. The Belgian by birth was outclassed by Stefanos Tsitsipas (6-3, 6-0, 6-2). The reigning finalist found his best sensations on a court that he particularly appreciates. No regrets for the 19-year-old tricolor, except for these two break points not converted at the start of the match... Tsitsipas will face Taylor Fritz in the 8th for a first big test.

Without mercy. The Italian outclassed the 32 seed (6-0, 6-1, 6-3) and less than 2 hours of play. Author of 34 winning shots, the 4th in the world is the favorite who has impressed the most in Australia since the start of the tournament. He will face Karen Khachanov in the round of 16 who defeated Tomas Machac in four sets (6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6).

Faced with an uninspired and overwhelmed opponent (34 unforced errors in just two sets), the American Coco Gauff did not go into detail on Friday against her compatriot Alycia Parks (6-0, 6-2).

The number of minutes spent on court by Aryna Sabalenka against Lesia Tsurenko. The defending champion inflicted a double bubble on the Ukrainian (6-0, 6-0). The Belarusian is in a hurry. Which made her say: “If I hadn’t been a tennis player, I might have been a boxer,” she whispered hotly. The returning Amanda Anisimova, her future opponent, is warned.

Winner of Paula Badosa (7-5, 6-4), the American Amanda Anisimova, semi-finalist at Roland-Garros at 17 in 2019, had taken a break from tennis, to preserve her mental health. Victim of burn-out in the summer of 2022, the one who reached 21st place in the world, declared that she “could no longer support tennis”. Returning to the courts at the end of 2023, she seems to have found the desire to want again.

Djokovic, who has lost one set per match so far, will need all of his physical resources against the Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry, seeded N.30 and defeater of the British Andy Murray and the French Gaël Monfils.

Rod Laver Arena (from 9 a.m. in France)

Novak Djokovic (SRB/N.1) - Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG/N.30) Barbora Krejcikova (CZE/N.9) - Storm Hunter (AUS/q)

Margaret Court Arena (from 9 a.m. in France)

Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA/N.10) - Maria Timofeeva (RUS/q)Andrey Rublev (RUS/N.5) - Sebastian Korda (USA/N.29)

John Cain Arena

(from 9 a.m. in France)Alex de Minaur (AUS/N.10) - Flavio Cobolli (ITA/q)

KIA Arena

Ben Shelton (USA/N.16) - Adrian Mannarino (FRA/N.20)

SEE ALSO – André-Pierre Gignac’s 200th goal with the Tigres