Australian Open on Thursday: Ash Barty, Kenin in 2nd round

By Associated Press 11 February 2021, 12:00AM

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A quick look at the Australian Open:

LOOKAHEAD TO THURSDAY

Top-seeded Ash Barty is aiming to continue her sparkling form when she takes on fellow Australian Daria Gavrilova in the second round. Barty lost just 10 points in a 6-0, 6-0 win over Danka Kovinic in the first round, her first match at a major in more than a year. She's coming off a title win a tuneup tournament last week. Defending champion Sofia Kenin will face Estonian veteran Kaia Kanepi, who won the only previous match they played in 2018. Rafael Nadal, meanwhile, continues his quest for a men's record 21st major title with a second-round match against American Michael Mmoh in the night session. And 16-year-old Coco Gauff takes on the fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, a two-time Australian Open quarterfinalist.

THURSDAY’S FORECAST

Partly sunny. High of 33 Celsius (91 degrees Fahrenheit)

WEDNESDAY'S WEATHER

Sunny. High of 32 Celsius (90 Fahrenheit)

WEDNESDAY’S KEY RESULTS

Women’s Second Round: No. 2 Simona Halep beat Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-4, 7-5; No. 3 Naomi Osaka beat Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-3; No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka beat Daria Kasatkina 7-6(5), 6-3; Hsieh Su-wei beat No. 8 Bianca Andreescu 6-3, 6-2; Sorana Cirstea beat No. 9 Petra Kvitova 6-4, 1-6, 6-1; No. 10 Serena Williams beat Nina Stojanovic 6-3, 6-0; No. 14 Garbine Muguruza beat Liudmila Samsonova 6-3, 6-1; No. 15 Iga Swiatek beat Camila Giorgi 6-2, 6-4; Sara Errani beat Venus Williams 6-1, 6-0; Ann Li beat Alize Cornet 6-2, 7-6 (6).

Men’s Second Round: No. 1 Novak Djokovic beat Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (2), 6-3; No. 3 Dominic Thiem beat Dominik Koepfer 6-4, 6-0, 6-2; No. 6 Alexander Zverev beat Maxime Cressy 7-5, 6-4, 6-3; No. 8 Diego Schwartzman beat Alexandre Muller 6-2, 6-0, 6-3; No. 11 Denis Shapovalov beat Bernard Tomic 6-1, 6-3, 6-2; No. 14 Milos Raonic beat Corentin Moutet 6-7 (1), 6-1, 6-1, 6-4; No. 15 Pablo Carreno beat Jiri Vesely 6-3, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-4; Marton Fucsovics beat No. 17 Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, 7-6 (9); No. 20 Felix Auger-Aliassime beat James Duckworth 6-4, 6-1, 6-2; Nick Kyrgios beat No. 29 Ugo Humbert 5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4.

STAT OF THE DAY

8 hours, 11 minutes — The total time Hungarian player Marton Fucsovics has spent on court in his first two matches, which have both gone to five sets. Fucsovics ousted former champion Stan Wawrinka on Wednesday after saving three match points.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“That just broke me. I’m out there battling world No. 1, and like he needs any more help." Frances Tiafoe on the time violation that cost him a first serve in a momentum-shifting moment late in his loss to Novak Djokovic.

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More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

By Associated Press 11 February 2021, 12:00AM

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