More upsets were recorded on day 4 of the Australian Open with Stan Wawrinka, Johanna Konta, Garbiñe Muguruza saying their good byes to Melbourne as players suffered extreme temperatures, 39C at the Australian Open.
Wimbledon champion, Garbine Muguruza was beaten in straight sets by world number 88 Hsieh Su-Wei in the Australian Open second round. The Spanaird couldn’t cope with the soaring temperatures and struggled physically in the first set, 7-6(7-1) she eventually lost 7-6 6-4.
British number one Johanna Konta was also dumped out of the Australian Open by world number 123 Bernarda Pera in the second round of the Australian Open.
The American won 6-4 7-5 to claim only her second win at Grand Slam level.
26 year old Konta who had reached the quarter-finals and semi-finals on her past two visits to Melbourne, has now won three out of 11 matches since making the last four at the 2017 Wimbledon.
Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova beat 14th seed Anastasija Sevastova in straight sets to reach the third round of the Australian Open.
30 year old Sharapova who was beaten in three sets by the Latvian at the US Open last year, won 6-1 7-6 (7-4) in one hour and 20 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
Sharapova will next face former world number one and 2016 Australian Open winner Angelique Kerber, who beat Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4 6-1.
American Madison Keys made light work of Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-0 6-1 in 41 minutes. 26th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, saw off Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko in three sets as she won 2-6 7-5 6-3.
In the men’s event, 19th grand slam winner Roger Federer sailed into the third round of the Australian Open after beating Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 6-4, 7-6.
His Swiss counterpart, Stan Wawrinka suffered a shock second-round defeat to America’s Tennys Sandgren on Thursday and losing 6-2 6-1 6-4 Former world number one, Novak Djokovic came from a set down to beat Gael Monfils as the temperature hit 39C at the Australian Open.
Monfils took the first set but struggled in the second, complaining of feeling dizzy and leaving the court with a doctor.The Frenchman returned but could not stop Djokovic coming through 4-6 6-3 6-1 6-3.The temperature is expected to exceed 40C in Melbourne on Friday.
