Djokovic, Sabalenka progress as Zheng, Ruud make early exits

MELBOURNE :Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz swept into the third round of the Australian Open in the wake of women's top seed Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday as the rain returned and Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen bowed out.

While Zheng, who was stunned 7-6(3) 6-3 by Laura Siegemund, was the first top-10 women's seed to exit, sixth seed Casper Ruud became the fourth to fall on the men's side after going down 6-2 3-6 6-1 6-4 to Czech teenager Jakub Mensik.

"We can see that tennis is moving on," said 19-year-old Mensik, whose triumph followed Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca's stunning victory over ninth seed Andrey Rublev in the opening round on Tuesday.

"We can see different or new names on the tournaments. For the fans, for the tennis, for everything, it's really great. That's it. New blood is coming."

Djokovic, however, continued to defy the rise of the younger generation and took another step towards a 25th Grand Slam title with a 6-1 6-7(4) 6-3 6-2 victory over 21-year-old qualifier Jaime Faria on Rod Laver Arena.

"Overall it was another big test. Another three-hour match, back-to-back against the youngsters," said the 37-year-old seventh seed, who claimed another record merely by taking to the court for his 430th Grand Slam match. "Again, I'm happy with the way I ended up the match. Good fashion, good mindset."

Second seed Alexander Zverev made light work of contemporary Pedro Martinez 6-1 6-4 6-1 in the final match on the main showcourt, while Alcaraz, still only 21, served up another quick-fire win to advance past Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0 6-1 6-4.

Sabalenka, bidding to become the first woman to claim three straight Australian Open titles since Martina Hingis in the late 1990s, had a much trickier time in the opening match