it’s over for Diane Parry and Luca Van Assche, the fast favorites… What to remember from Friday’s matches

The French Diane Parry and Luca Van Assche were eliminated on Friday in Melbourne. On the other hand, the favorites held their place.

After the major exploits of the two Frenchmen Clara Burel and Arthur Cazaux the day before, the day was completely different in Melbourne, Friday January 19. First entries of the day, the Tricolores Diane Parry and Luca Van Assche did not validate their ticket for the round of 16 of the Australian Open. On the other hand, the favorites did not tremble. They left only crumbs for their opponents, qualifying for the next round in 52 minutes for defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, 61 minutes for Coco Gauff and less than two hours for Jannik Sinner.

The French: disillusionment for Diane Parry, Luca Van Assche too fair

Bad day for the Tricolores engaged on Friday in Melbourne. Frenchwoman Diane Parry (72nd) was overthrown in the super tie-break by Russian nugget Mirra Andreeva, already in the top 50 at 16, in the third round of the Australian Open, after leading 5-1 and having a match point in the third set, on the service of the young Russian. Andreeva finally won 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10-5) after almost two and a half hours of play. Falling in less than an hour in the previous round to world number 6 Ons Jabeur, the young Russian player is already reaching the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the second time in her emerging career after Wimbledon 2023. She will face either world number 11 Barbora Krejcikova or Australian qualifier Storm Hunter.

For his part, Luca Van Assche (79th) was unable to do anything against the Greek Stéfanos Tsitsipas. The world number 7, and outgoing finalist, accelerated in the third round at the expense of the young Frenchman, dominated 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 in just over two hours of play. In the round of 16, Tsitsipas will face the 12th in the world Taylor Fritz, defeated Hungarian Fabian Marozsan (67th). Van Assche, French hope at 19, discovered the third round in the Grand Slam, at the cost of winning two first matches in five sets.

The favorites: Coco Gauff, Jannik Sinner, Aryna Sabalenka unfold

She didn’t wait to qualify. Coco Gauff, 4th in the world and winner of the 2023 US Open, left only two games to her American compatriot Alycia Parks (82nd), outclassed 6-0, 6-2 in 61 minutes. Gauff, who will celebrate her 20th birthday in March, will face the Polish Magdalena Frech (69th) or the Russian qualifier Anastasia Zakharova for a place in the quarter-finals. For the moment, she equals her best performance at the Australian Open: she had already reached the round of 16 there in 2020 and 2023. Gauff had ideally launched her 2024 season by retaining her title in Auckland, New Zealand , early January.

Even faster, Aryna Sabalenka, world number 2 and defending champion, left the Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko (33rd) no chance by winning 6-0, 6-0 in 52 minutes. Sabalenka has been amazing so far in Melbourne: in three matches, she has only let six games slip away and, in total, has spent less than three hours on the court. In the first round, 6-0, 6-1 (against Seidel) in 53 minutes. In the second round, 6-3, 6-2 (against Fruhvirtova) in 67 minutes. Even less on the third. “I’m super happy with the level I’m playing at so far, I hope to continue like this, or even better,” ambitions the 25-year-old Belarusian. In the round of 16, she will face the American Amanda Anisimova, former world 21st who has fallen below 400th place in the world, returning to the circuit after having experienced a difficult period.

He also left only crumbs for his opponent. World number 4 Jannik Sinner reached the round of 16 without losing a single set after his 6-0, 6-1, 6-3 victory against Argentinian Sebastian Baez (29th). The 22-year-old Italian, one of the main outsiders in the Australian Grand Slam, will face world No. 15 Karen Khachanov for a place in the quarter-finals. “I’m playing really well and I feel really good here,” rejoiced Jannik Sinner, who, as in the previous round, spent less than two hours on the court on Friday. The Italian also starts his week in Melbourne perfectly. He remains the only player to have beaten world number 1 Novak Djokovic, twice (at the Masters (in the group stage) and in the Davis Cup) after Wimbledon and until the end of the 2023 season.