Imperious Coco Gauff rolls past Leylah Fernandez into Australian Open last 16

MELBOURNE – Coco Gauff extended her unblemished start to the season with a straight-set victory over Leylah Fernandez on Jan 17 to roll into the second week of the Australian Open.

The American world No. 3, one of the favourites for the Melbourne Grand Slam title, eased to a 6-4, 6-2 third-round win on Margaret Court Arena against the 30th seed from Canada.

Gauff is yet to drop a set this season in eight matches, having won all five of her singles at the season-opening United Cup, including a 6-3, 6-2 win over Fernandez, which was the pair’s only previous clash.

“I think it was harder because she knew what to expect, and I definitely think she played a little bit different today than at the United Cup,” said the in-form 20-year-old, who is on an overall 12-match winning streak.

“Leylah is a great competitor, great player, great person, so I knew today was going to be a tough match, regardless of the result a couple of weeks ago.”

Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion, lost to Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open semi-finals in 2024, her best Melbourne Park performance to date. She is drawn to meet the world No. 1 and defending champion at the same stage this edition.

Before that, she will face Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, who advanced when Naomi Osaka retired injured, for a place in the quarter-finals.

Osaka said her withdrawal seemed “inevitable” after the strain she put on her abdomen in the earlier rounds.

“It’s not fantastic and I’m feeling not great, not bad. In the middle somewhere. It was a little hectic trying to manage it (during the tournament) because obviously, my draw was quite tough,” the Japanese said.

“But we were also doing everything we could. I was going to therapy every day and into the night. So the days have been very long for me. Obviously, after my last match, it got way worse.”

World No. 29 Fernandez, the losing finalist at the 2021 US Open, was in the third round in Melbourne for the first time and found the precision of Gauff hard to handle.

The gulf in class became even more evident as her opponent raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set and pulled away to win her 16th successive set since the start of the 2025 season and advance in style.

Earlier, Sabalenka was pushed to the limit in setting up a showdown with Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva.

The Belarusian was made to work hard behind a faltering serve before beating Denmark’s Clara Tauson on Rod Laver Arena. She was broken four straight times at the start of the match, but found her groove to win 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 after more than two hours of attritional tennis.

“I’m just super happy that I was able to just stay in the game and I was able to push myself, honestly, to the limit to get this win,” said Sabalenka, who is chasing a rare third Melbourne title in a row.

Her win puts her into a clash against highly rated 17-year-old Andreeva, the 14th seed, who beat Poland’s 23rd seed Magdalena Frech 6-2, 1-6, 6-2.

In the men’s draw, Alexander Zverev also booked his place in the second week of the opening Grand Slam of the year with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Britain’s Jacob Fearnley.

The German came into Melbourne at a career-high No. 2 ranking and has not dropped a set in three matches at the tournament.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are on track for a quarter-final clash.

Alcaraz suffered a wobble in the third set against Portugal’s unseeded Nuno Borges, but regained his focus to ease through 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2.

Ten-time champion Djokovic defeated Czech 26th seed Tomas Machac in a prime-time evening match 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. AFP, REUTERS