Quick Served: Australian Open Day 4

A teenage dark horse, Meddy’s podcasting future and credit card roulette

Day 4 was rainy and drama-free as only one seed lost, so the Quick Served conversation turned to off-court distractions, like who picked up the tab at Mardy Fish’s bachelor party. Andy and Producer Mike run through the results and preview some exciting matches coming up today.

Served correspondent Liza West spied an unheralded virtuoso in action yesterday at Melbourne Park.

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Bracket Busters

Emma Raducanu [28] was the only seed to lose yesterday, falling to Anastasia Potapova 7-6, 6-2. Raducanu was pragmatic when asked about her run of early Slam exits since winning the 2021 US Open.

“I’ve accepted that and all the challenges I’ve faced since [winning the US Open], in figuring things out and learning by mistakes and experiences. All of those things were going to happen when you win a Slam at 18 from qualies ranked 350 in the world two months before. I’m slowly figuring out what works for me. At the Slams, I think I’m doing better; a few times I’ve had really tough draws. Just doing the day-to-day and improving myself as a player, which I think I’m doing.”

Andy called this upset and is puzzled about Raducanu’s approach to the year.

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Who Cruised

Everyone else—although Carlos Alcaraz [1] weathered a 78-minute opening set against Yannick Hanfmann before winning 7-6, 6-3, 6-3. Alcaraz did lose to Roger Federer on the golf course this week, though.

“I think he’s been playing for two years now, and his level is really, really good. I’ve been playing five and he already beat me.” —Carlos Alcaraz in his post-match interview

Aryna Sabalenka [1], [3] Coco Gauff, [7] Jasmine Paolini, [8] Mirra Andreeva, [12] Elina Svitolina, [17] Victoria Mboko and [29] Iva Jovic moved on without dropping a set.

Andy is predicting a deep run for one of those teenagers.

Among the men, Tommy Paul [19] started the day with a straight-set win over Thiago Agustin Tirante, and both Alexander Bublik [10] and Francisco Cerundolo [18] also got through in three sets. The rest of the seeds needed four or five sets.

More notable results

• Daniil Medvedev [11] def. Quentin Halys 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2

• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina [14] def. Reilly Opelka 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4

• Clara Tauson [14] def. Polina Kudermetova 6-3, 3-6, 7-5

• Karolina Muchova [19] def. Alycia Parks 4-6, 6-4, 6-4

• Learner Tien [25] def. Alexander Shevchenko 6-2, 5-7, 6-1, 6-0

• Corentin Moutet [32] def [Q] Michael Zheng 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 ret.

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Talking Turkey

While Day 4 lacked drama, one match overflowed with good feels and reminded us why tennis is so special.

Turkish fans packed a side court to cheer qualifier Zeynep Sonmez into the third round. The 23-year-old upset Ekaterina Alexandrova [11] in the first round and won over new fans by rushing to help a fainting ballkid. Yesterday, Sonmez blasted past Anna Bondar 6-2, 6-4, only the second time she has reached the third round of a major. She plays Yulia Putintseva next.

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Perfect Delivery

Photo credit: ©Andy Cheung / ArcK Images / Getty Images

We love it when someone hands Daniil Medvedev a microphone. After his four-set win over Quentin Halys, a reporter asked if he sees podcasting in his future, prompting Meddy’s critique of the medium in tennis. Warning: shameless plug ahead.

“I respect Roddick a lot because I feel like he never goes at the players. He’s very respectful. And then there are some guys—and it’s normal, once you get used to not doing interviews anymore, maybe you do one per year—just slam the whole tour. I don’t want to be this guy who finishes his career and then goes, ‘Yeah, these guys, they don’t know how to play anymore. When I was there, there was Alcaraz and Sinner, now these guys now, they’re just amateurs.’”

Listen to Andy explain his approach to covering tennis on Served.

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45

Sets won by Sabalenka out of her last 50 sets at the Australian Open

With her straight-set win in the second round yesterday, Aryna Sabalenka made it 45-for-50 sets in Melbourne, stretching back to her third-round match in 2022 versus Marketa Vondrousova.

Sabalenka lost her next match in three sets to Kaia Kanepi. When she returned to Melbourne in 2023, she went on a tear and won 47 of the next 50 sets, only dropping sets to Elena Rybakina, Anastasia Pavlyunchenkova and Madison Keys.

Throughout that 21–2 run, opponents stretched Sabalenka to or past 6-4 only 11 times, which means Sabalenka has been winning 80 percent of her sets comfortably for the last two-and-a-half years.

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🍿 Day 5 Matches

• Amanda Anisimova [4] vs. Katerina Siniakova

• Jessica Pegula [6] vs. McCartney Kessler

• Ben Shelton [8] vs. [Q] Dane Sweeny

• Madison Keys [9] vs. Ashlyn Krueger

• Karen Khachanov [15] vs. Nishesh Basavareddy [Q]

• Naomi Osaka [16] vs. Sorana Cirstea

• Denis Shapovalov [21] vs. Marin Cilic

• Hubert Hurkacz vs. Ethan Quinn

• Stan Wawrinka [WC] vs. Arthur Gea [Q]

• Henry Patton/Helio Heliovaara [2] vs. Patrik Trhac/Diego Hidalgo

• Diana Shnaider/Liudmila Samsonova [10] vs. Ena Shibahara/Vera Zvonareva

🗓️ Full Day 5 order of play

🗨️ Join us in the Substack chat at the start of the day session!

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