Australian Open LIVE: Novak Djokovic faces home hope Alexei Popyrin in second round

The highs and lows of sport.

Two days after knocking out Naomi Osaka on Rod Laver Arena, Caroline Garcia crashes back down to earth with a 6-4 7-6 defeat to Magdalena Frech.

Garcia, the 16th, served for the second set but was broken by French and lost a one-sided tiebreak 7-2 to the Polish player.

That’s tough one to swallow after looking so strong in her win over Osaka.

Ben Shelton makes it through to the third round of the Australian Open, and moves a step closer to that dream rematch with Novak Djokovic in the fourth round.

Shelton reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on his debut last year and is backing it up on his return to Melbourne Park.

The 21-year-old has just silenced a hostile atmosphere but knocking out Australian Chris O’Connell in a fourth-set tiebreak, sealing a 6-4 6-1 3-6 7-6 win.

Shelton and Djokovic clashed over the ‘phone down’ celebration at the US Open semi-finals last year.

Frances Tiafoe looks to be in trouble against Tomas Machac and is a set and a break down to the Czech out on Kia Arena.

Caroline Garcia, who played so well in defeating Naomi Osaka on her grand slam comeback, is another seeded player in danger.

The Frenchwoman lost the opening set 6-3 to Magdelena Frech and it’s on serve in the second.

Emma Raducanu takes on Yafan Wang in the second round of the Australian Open after making an impressive start to her grand slam comeback.

The 21-year-old defeated Shelby Rogers 6-3 6-2 for her first grand slam win in 12 months on Tuesday and has a good opportunity to reach the third round against the world 94 Wang.

Raducanu, who has not reached the third round of a grand slam since winning the US Open in 2021, will hope to build on her opening performance at Melbourne Park.

The former British No 1 believes she is in a good place after reuniting with childhood coach Nick Cavaday, who she first worked with as a 10-year-old.

“I think it’s pretty calm now,” Raducanu said. “It’s nice to be with Nick, feel very comfortable there. Just all aspects really of my life I feel like are calming down and settled.”

Australia’s Alex de Minaur believes there is more to come as his run at his home grand slam continued with a straight-sets win over Matteo Arnaldi.

De Minaur is carrying the hopes of the Australian crowd and faces Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli in his third round match, but believes he has “plenty more to show”.

“I think so far I have done what I needed to do to win the matches. It hasn’t been probably the prettiest of levels or my best level,” he said.

“I played two opponents where maybe I haven’t been allowed to be as aggressive as I would like, because, you know, they’ve got a lot of firepower. But I do think I’ve got a lot more to show.”

Coco Gauff looks ahead to playing fellow American Alycia Parks in the third round of the Australian Open: “I have known her for a long time, since I was, like, maybe like 9 years old. Used to practice with her and her sister. We both lived in Delray Beach, or, like, in that area. Yeah, I know her very well.

“She has a big game, big serve, big shots, very athletic. I think she’s one of the most, if not ‘the’ most at one of the athletic players on tour. Like me, her, Sloane, and Iga are probably up there and Sakkari. And there is more I’m probably missing. Those would be, like, my top 5. She’s like up there.

“It’s going to be a tough match. I don’t expect it to be easy. I’ve never played her actually since that age other than the mixed doubles we had at US Open, but I’ve never played her in practice or anything.

“It’s going to be a tough match. She’s a great player, and I always knew she was going to do well on tour. It was just a matter of when it was all going to align. I think now it’s starting to align.”

It’s a busy start to the day for the leading men’s American players, with Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe all in action.

Fritz was taken to five sets in his opening match but the second round was more straight-forward, defeating Hugo Gaston 6-0 6-3 6-1 in 88 minutes.

Shelton is two sets up and looking strong against Aussie Chris O’Connell – as last year’s quarter-finalist looks to set up a fourth round match against Novak Djokovic.

Tiaofe will look to continue their strong form as he takes on the Czech Tomas Machac, with that match starting now.

Christopher Eubanks is also in action later against the fifth seed Andrey Rublev.

Emma Raducanu will hope to maintain the same air of calm that accompanied her grand slam comeback when she takes to the court again for her second-round match at the Australian Open.

The 19-year-old was handed a kind draw against American Shelby Rogers, who was playing her first competitive tennis for six months, but negotiated the hurdle with a minimum of fuss in a 6-3 6-2 victory.

Raducanu’s spell out of the sport following triple surgery has given a chance for the circus surrounding her to die down, while she has a new yet familiar coach in the shape of Nick Cavaday, who she first worked with as a 10-year-old.

“I think it’s pretty calm now,” she said. “It’s nice to be with Nick. I’ve known him since I was a kid, feel very comfortable there. Just all aspects really of my life I feel like are calming down and settled.

“Obviously when you come back after eight months, have experienced three surgeries, you’re just really grateful to be able to move freely.”

Brenda Fruhvirtova vs Aryna Sabalenka

Novak Djokovic vs Alexei Popyrin

Jordan Thompson vs Stefanos Tsitsipas

Maria Sakkari vs Elina Avanesyan

Christopher O’Connell vs Ben Shelton

Christopher Eubanks vs Andrey Rublev

Former world No 1 and former champion Caroline Wozniacki is out of the Australian Open after her comeback was put to an end by Russian qualifier Maria Timofeeva.

Timofeeva fought back from a set down to end the run of 2018 winner Wozniacki 1-6 6-4 6-1.