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Jessica Pegula one of five Top 8 Australian Open women's seeds to fall before third round

In men's action, Carlos Alcaraz withstood Lorenzo Sonego's barrage over four tight sets.

ByAssociated Press

Published Jan 18, 2024

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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Fifth-ranked Jessica Pegula's run of three consecutive quarterfinals in Australia was ended in a 6-4, 6-2 loss to Clara Burel. Her fellow American, 2017 U.S. Open winner Sloane Stephens, took out No. 14 seed Daria Kasatkina 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and advanced along with No. 11 Jelena Ostapenko, No. 12 Zheng Qinwen, No. 19 Elina Svitolina and No. 27 Emma Navarro.

The 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu's comeback major ended in a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 loss to Wang Yafan.

Top 8 Women's Seeds to Fall

  • No. 3 Elena Rybakina: 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (20) loss to No. 57 Anna Blinkova (second round)
  • No. 5 Jessica Pegula: 6-4, 6-2 loss to No. 51 Clara Burel (second round)
  • No. 6 Ons Jabeur: 6-0, 6-2 loss to No. 47 Miira Andreeva (second round)
  • No. 7 Marketa Vondrousova: 6-1, 6-2 loss No. 93 Dayana Yastremska (first round)
  • No. 8 Maria Sakkari: 6-4, 6-4 loss to No. 74 Elina Avanesyan (second round)
Jessica Pegula lost before the third round of a major for the first time since 2021 Wimbledon.

Jessica Pegula lost before the third round of a major for the first time since 2021 Wimbledon.

© Getty Images

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Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz dropped a set for the first time in the tournament before recovering to beat Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (3).

With a strong breeze to contend with, Alcaraz was tested by Lorenzo Sonego before coming through in four sets and will next face 18-year-old Chinese wildcard entry Shang Juncheng, who ousted India's Sumit Nagal 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

It'll be the first time on tour Alcaraz has faced a younger player.

"He beat some big guys," Alcaraz said of Shang's run to the semifinals in Hong Kong earlier this month. "So I know he has the level. He's already there."

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Arthur Cazaux upset No. 8 Holger Rune 7-6 (4), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 but No. 13 Grigor Dimitrov, No. 14 Tommy Paul, No. 19 Cameron Norrie, No. 21 Ugo Humbert and No. 27 Felix Auger-Aliassime all advanced.

Two earlier matches went the distance before being decided in 10-point tiebreakers: Olympic champion Alexander Zverev fended off Lukas Klein 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7) in 4 1/2 hours and No. 11 Casper Ruud edged Max Purcell 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7).

"He played incredible. He was hitting every single ball as hard as he could from both sides," Zverev said of Klein, a No. 163-ranked qualifier from Slovakia. "I didn't really know what to do most of the times. To be honest, he probably deserved to win the match more than me today."