Reuters
Novak Djokovic of Serbia gestures during his match against Jaime Faria of Portugal in the second round [Source: Reuters]
The Australian Open third round begins today with defending champion Aryna Sabalenka kicking things off on Rod Laver Arena while Novak Djokovic resumes his quest for an 11th title.
Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and Coco Gauff are among the other top seeds in action on the showcourts while familiar foes Naomi Osaka and Belinda Bencic meet on John Cain Arena.
Twice champion Osaka, who returned to the tour from a 15-month maternity break in January last year, is starting to show flashes of the brilliance that earned the former world number one the title in 2019 and 2021.
A resurgent Osaka has already avenged last year’s Australian Open first-round loss by beating Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia and followed that up by knocking out Czech 20th seed Karolina Muchova.
Osaka meets a familiar foe in Belinda Bencic, who holds a 3-2 record against her, with the Japanese relishing the challenge against the former Olympic gold medallist, who also returned to the circuit after giving birth in April.
Djokovic will hope to exact revenge when he faces Czech Tomas Machac, who stunned the 24-times major winner in the semi-finals of the Geneva Open last year.
Machac, 13 years his junior, has only grown in confidence since, winning the mixed doubles gold at the Olympics.
Djokovic has already dropped sets against Nishesh Basavareddy and Jaime Faria and the 37-year-old can expect another tough outing versus Machac, who is looking to advance to the fourth round for the first time.
