Seeds tumbled left and right out of the Australian Open second round Thursday, including three among the Top 10 (two men and one woman). A rundown of the unseeded—and unfazed—stars of Day 4:
Qualifier Katie Volynets caused the first big upset, knocking out No. 9 seed Veronika Kudermetova, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
I have a lot of cousins in the Ukraine, and actually they watch every single match. They usually write me, and I communicate with them. It's really special.
J.J. Wolf rolled over No. 23 seed Diego Schwartzman, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. The Cincinnati, Ohio native will next meet…
… lucky loser Michael Mmoh, who cemented his Top 100 return by surging past No. 12 seed Alexander Zverev, 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
Poland’s Magda Linette rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory to send No. 16 seed Anett Kontaveit packing.
Donna Vekic trounced 18th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova, 6-3, 6-0, to reach the third round for a third time in four years.
After three hours and 12 minutes, Laura Siegemund finished off No. 27 seed Irina-Camelia Begu, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3.
In a grueling encounter, Tommy Paul overcame No. 30 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, 6-2, 2-6, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4. Up next?
Jenson Brooksby. The Sacramento native shocked No. 2 seed Casper Ruud, a two-time major finalist in 2022, 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-2.
Wild card Alexei Popyrin caused further carnage in the bottom quarter of the men’s draw when he upended No. 8 seed Taylor Fritz, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-2. Ben Shelton awaits.
I had the worst year last year. I've won as many matches so far this year as I did all year last year. I love this feeling, I want more of this feeling, I want you guys (the crowd) to have more of this feeling, I love you all so much.
In one of the final matches of the day, Benjamin Bonzi completed a tremendous comeback against No. 14 seed Pablo Carreño Busta, 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1, 7-6 (10-4).
Then, after 1 a.m., 2019 Roland Garros finalist Marketa Vondrousova eliminated the runner-up at the last two majors —Ons Jabeur — by a scoreline of 6-1, 5-7, 6-1.