Jan. 19 (UPI) — Ash Barty, Naomi Osaka and Rafael Nadal were among the top tennis players to advance to the third round of the 2022 Australian Open with wins Wednesday in Melbourne.
American Amanda Anisimova pulled off one of the notable upsets of the day, with a straight-sets win over 2020 Summer Games gold medalist Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.
“I felt like I wanted to use my experience and get off to a quick start,” Barty told reporters. “I was able to do that. I served well, was able to find plenty of forehands and to control the match quite well.”
Barty, the top women’s seed, beat Italian Lucia Bronzetti in 52 minutes. The Australian totaled eight aces and 21 winners in the 6-1, 6-1 victory. No. 4 Barbora Krezcikova of the Czech Republic, No. 5 Maria Sakkari of Greece and No. 8 Paula Badosa of Spain were among the other top women’s players to advance.
No. 13 Naomi Osaka of Japan edged American Madison Brengle 6-0, 6-4. The defending singles champion won that match in 65 minutes.
Anisimova, 20, needed 88 minutes to dispatch of Bencic, the No. 22 seed. She fired seven aces and 28 winners in that triumph. No. 21 Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys were the other American women to advance Wednesday with third-round victories.
“Belinda is a really tough opponent and I knew it was going to be a tough match, especially with the [weather] conditions today. I am really excited to be in the third round.”
Anisimova will face Osaka in her third-round match.
No. 3 Alexander Zverev of Germany, No. 6 Rafael Nadal of Spain and No. 7 Matteo Berrettini of Italy were the top men to advance through the first wave of second-round matches.
Zverev beat Australian John Millman 6-4, 6-4, 6-0. Nadal edged German Yannick Hanfmann 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. Berrettini beat American Stefan Kozlov 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Adrian Mannarino pulled off one of the latest upsets, beating No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in straight sets. No. 23 Reilly Opelka and Sebastian Korda were the loan Americans to advance Wednesday with second-round victories.
Second-round coverage continues at 7 p.m. and runs through 7 a.m. Thursday on ESPN+ and ESPN2.
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