QUINIX Sport News: Australian Open Day 6: Jessica Pegula falls, Naomi Osaka retires early, Jack Draper wins in five grueling sets

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Day 6 of the Australian Open saw a number of big names in men’s and women’s singles easily advance to the next round. But one major loss was No. 7-ranked Jessica Pegula, who was defeated in two sets by Serbian Olga Danilović.

Pegula and Danilović battled in the first set, with the Serbian winning in a tiebreaker — 7-3. But in the second set, the American completely faltered, letting Danilović take a 6-1 win and secure the match with relatively ease.

Pegula, who has made the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for three straight years, now exits unexpectedly early. The 23-year-old Danilović, meanwhile will move on to the Australian Open’s fourth round for the first time in her young career — and has a fan in fellow Serbian Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic, ranked No. 7, had his own success on Friday, defeating Czech player Tomas Machac in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. The 37-year-old Serb has now made the fourth round of the Australian Open every year since 2007, with only two exceptions (2017, when he was upset in the second round, and 2022, where he did not compete due to a saga involving him being unvaccinated against COVID-19).

No. 2-ranked Alexander Zverev also won in straight sets, with the German defeating the U.K.’s Jacob Fearnley 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Aryna Sabalenka, the women’s No. 1, kicked off the day with a 7-6(5), 6-4 win over Danish player Clara Tauson. No. 3-ranked Coco Gauff picked up a win in straight sets of her own, beating No. 30 Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-2. The young American defeated the young Canadian in typical Gauff fashion, pulling off tricky soft touches and aggressive play for the easy win.

No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz defeated Portuguese player Nuno Borges in four sets, 6-2, 6-4, 6(3)-7, 6-2. After taking an early two-set lead, Alcaraz faltered in the third set, letting Borges catch up and win the tiebreaker. But the 21-year-old Spaniard didn’t stay down for long, coming back to easily nab the next set to advance to the fourth round. Alcaraz pulled off the win in a typical way: placing shots just so, and using his stamina to outlast his opponent.

Unfortunately, Naomi Osaka’s comeback attempt has come to an end. Osaka, who has struggled with injuries for the past several years, made the Open’s third round for the first time in three years. Her match against Swiss player Belinda Bencic started off well, with Bencic only narrowly taking the first set off a tiebreaker, 7-6(3). But Osaka was forced to retire early from the match due to a strained abdominal muscle.

Osaka had retired early from the final of the Auckland Open earlier this month, also with an abdominal injury. It is unclear whether the injury will affect whether she can play going forward.

In perhaps the most grueling match of the day, No. 15-ranked Jack Draper pulled off a win in five sets over Australian Aleksandar Vukic, 6-4, 2-6, 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(8). It took nearly four hours and an 18-point tiebreaker for Draper to earn the win. Both players had gone a full five sets in both of their prior matches, making Friday’s matchup even more of a marathon.

Draper, in the end, outlasted Vukic, pulling off an impressive hit around the post in the process.

“My body doesn’t feel too great. Lucky I’ve got good physio,” Draper admitted after the match. He credited the crowd with giving him the energy to keep going through the five-setter.

Draper will need that energy in two days: He is set to take on Alcaraz, who is notoriously strong in five-set matches, in the fourth round on Sunday.