On Wednesday in Melbourne, 2021 US Open Champion Emma Raducanu faces 2022 Roland Garros Runner-up Coco Gauff, in what could be the first of many matches between these two young superstars.
Overall WTA action on Day 3 features eight Major singles champions, including World No.1 Iga Swiatek. And two women who have recently made deep runs at this event, Danielle Collins and Karolina Muchova, collide in the second round.
On the ATP side, Defending Champion Rafael Nadal takes on Mackie McDonald, who advanced to the second week of this tournament two years ago. And two other top men’s seeds, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev, play two Aussie wild cards in Rinky Hijikata and John Millman, both of whom prevailed in dramatic five-setters on Monday.
Additionally, a number of first round singles matches are to be concluded on Wednesday due to extreme heat preventing play for several hours on Tuesday. But with rain possible throughout the day in Melbourne, it could be a challenging day for players on the outer courts.
Each day this preview will highlight the four most intriguing matchups, while outlining the other notable matches on the schedule. Wednesday’s play will begin at 11:00am local time.
Rafael Nadal (1) vs. Mackie McDonald – Not Before 2:00pm on Rod Laver Arena
Nadal arrived in Melbourne having lost six of his last seven matches, but grinded his way to a four-set victory on Monday over a cramping Jack Draper. Can the defending champion now find his confidence and settle into the tournament?
McDonald arrived in Melbourne having lost five matches at Majors where he held a two-set-to-love lead. He again forfeited a two-set-to-love lead to Brandon Nakashima on Monday, despite holding match point in the fourth-set tiebreak, yet managed to close out the match 6-4 in the fifth. The American has twice reached the fourth round at a Slam, including two years ago in Melbourne.
Three years ago at Roland Garros, Nadal easily defeated McDonald in their only previous meeting, dropping just four games. On this surface, and against this less-than-100% version of Rafa, I expect Mackie to provide much more resistance. And unlike Draper, McDonald will not be cramping, as Mackie is one of the fittest players on tour. But the American does not possess any weapons that can seriously threaten Nadal, so I like Rafa’s chances of advancing to the third round of this event for the 17th time in 18 appearances.
Emma Raducanu vs. Coco Gauff (7) – 7:00pm on Rod Laver Arena
Gauff has been on fire to start the season, with a 6-0 record. She was the champion in Auckland two weeks ago, and is yet to drop a set this year. And Coco is coming off a landmark 2022 season, when she achieved her first Major singles final.
Raducanu of course achieved that feat a year earlier, when she completed the most shocking Slam title run in tennis history at the 2021 US Open, winning the tournament as a qualifier. Emma has understandably endured disappointing results since that time, losing more matches than she won last year. And two weeks ago in Auckland, she was forced to retire due to an ankle injury, though she comfortably prevailed in straight sets on Monday.
In their first career meeting, Gauff must be considered a strong favorite. Coco’s form across the last 12 months has been substantially higher than that of Emma’s. But I am curious to see how both players handle this highly-anticipated matchup, with the tennis world expecting this to become a leading WTA rivalry for years to come.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (3) vs. Rinky Hijikata (WC) – Last on Rod Laver Arena
Tsitsipas has reached the semifinals of this tournament in three of the last four years, but is yet to advance farther. In the opening round, he looked sharp against an in-form Quentin Halys, who won two Challenger events on hard courts this past fall.
Hijikata is a 21-year-old Australian who electrified the Aussies on Monday night, coming back from two-sets-down to defeat Yannick Hanfmann in five. That was Rinky’s first main draw victory at a Major. He won 53 matches at all levels last season, 47 of which were on hard courts. And in his Slam debut last August in New York, he made a name for himself by taking the first set from Rafael Nadal.
Of course Tsitsipas is a prohibitive favorite in this matchup. But seeing the entertaining and charismatic youngster play on his country’s biggest court should be fun, and Rinky is fully capable of making this a highly competitive contest.
Karolina Muchova vs. Danielle Collins (13) – Last on Margaret Court Arena
Collins was the runner-up here a year ago, but is currently battling a knee injury. Despite having her knee heavily taped on Monday, she weathered an arduous battle against Anna Kalinskaya, in a match that lasted over three hours.
Muchova was a semifinalist here two years ago, but after suffering multiple injuries the past two years, is now ranked outside the top 100. Yet she lost just three games in her opening round match, spending nearly two hours less on court than Collins.
Certainly Karolina will be the fresher player in this first-time encounter. And she possesses much more variety and guile in her game than Danielle. With Collins at least slightly-injured, as well as under the pressure of defending finalist points at this event, Muchova should be favored to prevail.
Other Notable Matches on Wednesday:
Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Camila Osorio – Swiatek survived two tight sets against Jule Niemeier on Monday evening. Osorio is a 21-year-old who was ranked as high as 33rd in the world during 2022.
Cristina Bucsa (Q) vs. Bianca Andreescu – Andreescu beat the 25th seed, Marie Bouzkova, in straight sets in the first round. Bucsa is a 25-year-old who won 49 matches at all levels last season.
Jessica Pegula (3) vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich – Pegula dropped just one game in her opening match, which lasted less than an hour. In the second round of last summer’s US Open, she defeated Sasnovich 6-4, 6-4.
Alex Molcan vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime (6) – Molcan took out 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka in a nearly four-and-a-half hour five-setter on Monday night. And he’s 1-0 against Auger-Aliassime, having outlasted him last April on the clay of Marrakech in a final set tiebreak.
Juncheng Shang (Q) vs. Frances Tiafoe (16) – On Monday, 17-year-old Juncheng became the first Chinese man to win a match at the Australian Open in the Open Era. On the same day, Tiafoe survived a stern four-set test from Daniel Altmaier.
John Millman (WC) vs. Daniil Medvedev (7) – Medvedev lost only three games in his first round match. Millman came back from two-sets-to-one down to prevail in five over Marc-Andrea Huesler.
Wednesday’s full Order of Play is here.
