Defending champion Jannik Sinner raced to victory at the Australian Open on Saturday to sweep into the last 16 as Iga Swiatek demolished Emma Raducanu. Also into the second week is 38-year-old Gael Monfils after he stunned fourth seed Taylor Fritz — with the veteran’s wife Elina Svitolina also enjoying a shock win immediately after on the same court. “It’s really a great day for us today, beating top-four players and playing great tennis,” said Ukraine’s Svitolina.

American qualifier Learner Tien, 19, won in straight sets to extend his fairytale run on his debut in Melbourne.

But Danielle Collins, the pantomime villain after thanking hecklers for “paying my bills” in the previous round, lost and was booed.

Italian world number one Sinner dropped a set for the first time in 14 matches in the second round.

But there were no such wobble against the unseeded Marcos Giron on Rod Laver Arena as he sprinted home 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in 2hr 1min, slamming 35 winners and eight aces.

Awaiting him next is either Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic or Danish 13th seed Holger Rune.

“If I want to go on in this tournament I have to improve,” said the 23-year-old Sinner.

French showman Monfils rolled back the years to storm back and defeat the American Fritz 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4.

The unseeded Monfils, who hit a career-high ranking of six in 2016 but is now 41st, is enjoying a late-career flourish.

A week ago he became the oldest singles champion in ATP Tour history when he swept to victory at the Auckland Classic.

Monfils faces another American in 21st seed Ben Shelton, who is a big fan.

“I think that any time he’s on the court, it’s a box-office match,” said Shelton.

Monfils is married to Svitolina, who emulated his giant-killing efforts when she defeated world number four Jasmine Paolini, also on Margaret Court Arena. Svitolina came though 2-6, 6-4, 6-0.

“I warmed up the court for her,” joked Monfils.

Tien became the youngest man to reach the fourth round since Rafael Nadal in 2005 when he overcame injured Frenchman Corentin Moutet.

The gifted teenager won 7-6 (12/10), 6-3, 6-3 with Moutet collapsing clutching his leg in the third set before gamely carrying on.

“Honestly it feels pretty crazy to be in the second week,” he said.

Tien stunned three-time runner-up Daniil Medvedev in a five-set epic in the previous round.

Home hope Alex de Minaur, the eighth seed, went through in four sets against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo and will face American Alex Michelsen for a place in the quarter-finals.

Rampant Swiatek

In a one-sided battle of former US Open champions, Swiatek romped to a 6-1, 6-0 triumph in a statement victory over Raducanu as she pursues a first Melbourne crown.

Emma Navarro, the eighth seed from the United States, joined the Pole in the next round with a gritty three-set win over Ons Jabeur.

Sixth seed Elena Rybakina also advanced despite a back problem.

“I felt like the ball is listening to me,” Swiatek said after rattling off 11 straight games in a brutal display against Britain’s Raducanu on Rod Laver Arena.

The 23-year-old Swiatek is a five-time major winner but she has never gone beyond the semi-finals at Melbourne Park.

She faces world number 128 German Eva Lys next.

Lys beat Jaqueline Cristian of Romania in three sets to become the first women’s singles “lucky loser” to reach the fourth round since the event moved to Melbourne Park in 1988.

Former Wimbledon champion Rybakina of Kazakhstan needed a medical timeout to treat a back spasm before winning 6-3, 6-4 against Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine.

Asked if her back would be OK, she replied: “Not really. So I will see my physio and hopefully he does some magic.”

Rybakina will face Madison Keys after she swatted aside fellow American Collins 6-4, 6-4, with Collins getting booed in and out of the arena.

Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff are all in action on Sunday.

Gael Monfils said he was ready to “do some damage” after stunning fourth seed Taylor Fritz on Saturday to reach the last 16 at the Australian Open. The 38-year-old Frenchman fought back 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 to make the fourth round for a sixth time in his 19th Australian Open. He is the second-oldest man to reach the last 16 at Melbourne Park after Roger Federer. Fritz had been in sizzling form before he met Monfils, dropping just eight games in his two previous matches. But the unseeded Frenchman was a different beast, unrelenting with his precision groundstrokes and booming serve to wear down the world number four. Monfils, ranked 41, fired a warning ahead of the tournament when he won the Auckland Classic to become the oldest singles champion in ATP Tour history.

“The strategy was to hold the baseline and definitely change the tempo. Hit some big shots down the line and used some shape with my forehand, some slice with my backhand and served well,” he said.

“I have a strong belief in myself, a strong belief I can still do some damage and with a little bit of luck we are in the second week of the Australian Open.”

He will meet another American, Ben Shelton, or Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti for a quarter-final berth.

Monfils has never been beyond the semi-finals of a major in his long career.

The pair went toe-to-toe at the start with some big baseline rallies, one stretching to 29 shots and another to 24.

A Monfils double fault handed Fritz a break for 5-3, with the American holding serve to secure the first set.

The baseline battle continued in the next set with neither player able to work a break-point opening until Fritz was serving to level up at 5-5.

He lost his focus and the wily Monfils — who won a remarkable 95 percent of first-serve points — enticed a series of errors and broke to love for the set.

Fritz needed a medical timeout at the changeover for treatment on his right foot, then saved two break points to stay on serve at 3-3.

The third set went to a tiebreak, where the Frenchman destroyed an increasingly frustrated Fritz, racing 6-0 clear with a series of sizzling shots and winning the set.

Monfils dug deep to win an 18-point fourth game in the fourth set, saving two break points, then pounced on the Fritz serve to break for a 5-4 lead before completing the upset. 

Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka were in ominous form ahead of the Australian Open as both powered into the Brisbane International quarter-finals on Thursday. On a day when rising stars Mirra Andreeva and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard underlined their potential, Djokovic cruised past fellow veteran Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-3 in 72 minutes. In the women’s draw, world number one Sabalenka — who is aiming to win the Australian Open for the third time in a row — beat Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 7-6 (7/2), 6-4.

Djokovic and Monfils played an entertaining match, but the 37-year-old Serb was always in control as he notched his 20th straight win over the Frenchman.

Former world number one Djokovic plays giant American Reilly Opelka in the last eight.

“We’ve been playing a long time, I’ve known Gael since I was 15 and he was 16,” said Djokovic, who is pursuing a record 25th Grand Slam singles title when the Australian Open begins on January 12.

“I’ve had a good score against him over the years but we’ve had some incredible battles on different surfaces.

“Hopefully we can play some more before we both retire.”

The 17-year-old Russian Andreeva demolished Linda Noskova 6-3, 6-0 in the women’s draw while Mpetshi Perricard downed fourth-seeded American Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) to reach the quarter-finals.

A year after losing to the same player at the season-opening event, Andreeva displayed her improvement over 2024 with a 63-minute romp over the Czech Republic’s Noskova.

The teenager faces Ons Jabeur of Tunisia next.

“Last year she (Noskova) almost killed me in the quarter-finals so I was thinking it’s time to take my revenge,” Andreeva said.

The Russian started the year ranked 16th in the world and is tipped by many to challenge for a Grand Slam in 2025.

“My number one goal for the 2025 season is to crack the top 10,” said Andreeva, who is coached by former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez.

The towering Mpetshi Perricard, 21, who beat Australian Nick Kyrgios in an entertaining round-one clash, again served superbly to defeat US Open semi-finalist Tiafoe.

After serving 36 aces in his three-set win over Kyrgios, the Frenchman sent down another 20 against the more experienced Tiafoe.

Mpetshi Perricard plays the 19-year-old Czech Jakub Mensik.

“It was a good match, not very easy to play against Francis,” Mpetshi Perricard said.

“The first set was very tight on serve but I managed to put some pressure on his second serve and it worked.”

Novak Djokovic reached the French Open last 32 for the 19th successive year on Thursday as Roland Garros organisers banned alcohol from the stands in an effort to counter growing complaints from players over disrespectful, rowdy fans. Defending champion Djokovic cracked 43 winners past Spain’s 63rd-ranked Roberto Carballes Baena to canter to a 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 win. The three-time champion, seeking a record 25th Grand Slam title, goes on to face either Gael Monfils of France or Italian 30th seed Lorenzo Musetti. Djokovic holds a 19-0 winning record against Monfils and has defeated Musetti four times in five meetings.

However, the Italian gave the Serb a major scare at the French Open in 2021 when he won the first two sets before having to retire injured in the decider.

“It was a difficult match against Roberto. He hit a lot of very good and precise shots,” said Djokovic.

“The last game of the first set I played really well and started to play at a higher level. At the end of the match I was then playing very well.”

Also easing through to the third round on another rain-hit day in the French capital were women’s title contenders Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina.

However, the behaviour of fans at the tournament, which was brought into focus by Belgium’s David Goffin’s claim that he had chewing gum spat at him, prompted a series of measures to clampdown on loutish behaviour.

“Alcohol has been allowed in the stadiums until now but that’s over,” tournament director Amelie Mauresmo told reporters.

However, alcohol including beer from mobile vendors, will still be sold around the grounds.

Mauresmo said fans will be ejected if they throw something at a player and that “umpires have tighter, even more precise instructions on keeping the crowd under control”.

Fourth seed Alexander Zverev, who effectively ended Rafael Nadal’s French Open career in the first round, defeated Goffin 7-6 (7/4), 6-2, 6-2.

Zverev arrived in Paris on the back of winning the Rome Open title and is the only player to reach the semi-finals at the last three French Open tournaments.

On Friday, a Berlin court will hear an appeal by Zverev against a fine for allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend.

He received a 450,000-euro ($487,000) fine in October but appealed the ruling earlier this year, leading to a full trial.

The 27-year-old is not required to attend the proceedings and insisted on the eve of the tournament that he “believes in the German system”.

On Thursday, he refused to further discuss the case.

“I have said everything before the tournament,” he said.

After only nine singles matches were played after a Wednesday washout, 55 second round ties were scheduled on Thursday.

Amongst early winners were world number two Sabalenka who fired 27 winners past Japanese qualifier Moyuka Uchijima to win 6-2, 6-2.

‘Blanket and tea’

The two-time Australian Open champion, a semi-finalist in Paris in 2023, has made at least the last four at her past six Grand Slams and is expected to be Iga Swiatek’s chief rival in the Pole’s quest for a fourth French Open title.

Sabalenka will take on close friend Paula Badosa of Spain for a place in the last 16.

“It’s not the best weather. I feel like going back to the hotel. Getting a blanket and hot tea, and Netflix,” said the Belarusian who had the benefit of playing under the roof of Court Philippe Chatrier.

Fourth-seeded Rybakina, the only woman to defeat Swiatek on clay this year, was similarly untroubled. She eased past Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-4.

Former world number one Daniil Medvedev moved into the last 32 after his opponent Miomir Kecmanovic retired with injury while trailing the fifth seed 6-1, 5-0.