The 19-year-old who was a late qualifier to the Grand Slam secured the biggest win of his young career on Thursday
The 2025 Australian Open is still in the early stages, but it’s already produced some unexpected results. Unranked American teenager Learner Tien pulled off a massive upset with a 6-3, 7-6, 6-7, 1-6, 7-6 win against No. 5 Daniil Medvedev in second round action. Tien, the 19-year-old who needed to qualify in the week before official action began, countered every shot the Russian threw at him. It’s the latest in a stunning run for Medvedev, who had made the Australian Open final in three of the last four years.
Meanwhile, world No. 9 Andrey Rublev suffered a shocking first-round defeat of his own to another teenager in Joe Fonseca. The 18-year-old from Brazil was making his debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam. Additionally, No. 6 Casper Ruud fell to 19-year-old Jakub Mensik in the second round.
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner — who is looking for his second consecutive trophy in Melbourne — had better luck than Rublev, but also started this tournament a little shaky. Despite getting past Nicolas Jarry in straight sets, he required two tiebreaks to advance with a 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 result. He will take on Tristan Schoolmate in the second round.
In the women’s competition, Aryna Sabalenka is on a mission to win her third straight Australian Open, and she has a lot of momentum as she ended 2024 with her first US Open title. She only dropped one combined set in the two major hardcourt tournaments last season, and started this tournament with a quick 6-3, 6-2 win over American Sloane Stephens.
U.S. star Coco Gauff’s best result last year was reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open before falling to Aryna Sabalenka, and we could potentially see a rematch. Gauff’s first-round match at Melbourne came against 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, who upset her in the first round of Wimbledon in 2023, but Gauff prevailed in straight sets this time around.
Sabalenka and No. 2 Iga Swiatek have been dominating women’s tennis the past few years, but Gauff is currently one of the hottest players. Since falling to Emma Navarro in the Round of 16 at the US Open, Gauff has won 20 of 22 matches, with wins at Beijing’s China Open, the WTA Finals in Riyadh and the United Cup.
The biggest upset on the women’s side was No. 97 Laura Siegemund taking down 22-year-old and world No. 5 Qinwen Zheng 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 in the second round. Siegemund, 36, is the third-oldest player to beat a WTA top-five opponent at the Australian Open in the past 30 years. Serena Williams did so at the age of 39 in 2021 and 37 in 2019.
Meanwhile, two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka took down No. 20 Karolina Muchova 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 and earned a ticket to the third round of a major tournament for the first time since 2022.
Where to watch the 2025 Australian Open
- Dates: Jan. 11-26
- Where: Melbourne Park, Australia
- Watch: ESPN, Tennis Channel
- Stream: fubo (try for free)
Notable men’s second round matches
- No. 1 Jannik Sinner def. Tristan Schoolkate 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3
- No. 2 Alexander Zverev def. Pedro Martinez 6-1, 6-4, 6-1
- No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz def. Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0, 6-1, 6-4
- No. 4 Taylor Fritz def. Cristian Garin 6-2, 6-1, 6-0
- Learner Tien def. No. 5 Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-6, 6-7, 1-6, 7-6
- Jakub Mensik def. No. 6 Casper Ruud 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
- No. 7 Novak Djokovic def. Jaime Faria 6-1, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-2
- No. 8 Alex de Minaur def, Tristan Boyer 6-2, 6-4, 6-3
- Fabian Marozsan def. No. 17 Frances Tiafoe 6-7, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
Notable women’s second round matches
- No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka def. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-3, 7-5
- No. 2 Iga Świątek def. Rebecca Sramkova 6-0, 6-2
- No. 3 Coco Gauff def. Jodie Anna Burrage 6-3, 7-5
- No. 4 Jasmine Paolini def. Renata Zarazua 6-2, 6-3
- Laura Siegemund def. No. 5 Qinwen Zheng 7-6 (7-3), 6-3
- No. 6 Elena Rybakina def. Iva Jovic 6-0, 6-3
- No. 7 Jessica Pegula def. Elise Mertens 6-4, 6-2
- No. 8 Emma Navarro def. Wang Xiyu 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
- No. 9 Daria Kasatkina def. Wang Yafan 6-2, 6-0
- No. 10 Danielle Collins def. Destanee Aiava 7-6, 4-6, 6-2
- Naomi Osaka def. No. 20 Karolina Muchova 1-6, 6-1, 6-3
Men’s Singles
- Jannik Sinner
- Alexander Zverev
- Carlos Alcaraz
- Taylor Fritz
- Daniil Medvedev
- Casper Ruud
- Novak Djokovic
- Alex de Minaur
- Andrey Rublev
- Grigor Dimitrov
- Stefanos Tsitsipas
- Tommy Paul
- Holger Rune
- Ugo Humbert
- Jack Draper
- Lorenzo Musetti
- Frances Tiafoe
- Hubert Hurkacz
- Karen Khachanov
- Arthur Fils
- Ben Shelton
- Sebastian Korda
- Alejandro Tabilo
- Jiri Lehecka
- Alexei Popyrin
- Tomas Machac
- Jordan Thompson
- Sebastian Baez
- Felix Auger-Aliassime
- Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
- Francisco Cerundolo
- Flavio Cobolli
Women’s singles
- Aryna Sabalenka
- Iga Swiatek
- Coco Gauff
- Jasmine Paolini
- Qinwen Zheng
- Elena Rybakina
- Jessica Pegula
- Emma Navarro
- Daria Kasatkina
- Danielle Collins
- Paula Badosa
- Diana Shnaider
- Anna Kalinskaya
- Mirra Andreeva
- Beatriz Haddad Maia
- Jelena Ostapenko
- Marta Kostyuk
- Donna Vekic
- Madison Keys
- Karolina Muchova
- Victoria Azarenka
- Katie Boulter
- Magdalena Frech
- Yulia Putintseva
- Liudmila Samsonova
- Ekaterina Alexandrova
- Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
- Elina Svitolina
- Linda Noskova
- Leylah Fernandez
- Maria Sakkari
- Dayana Yastremska
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