As third round matches begin on Friday at Melbourne Park, the increasingly open singles draws create a sense of opportunity. At least one new finalist will feature on the second Saturday, with no woman in the bottom half of the draw having previously progressed to that stage in Melbourne.
Who will seize their chances? Seedings suggest that Caroline Wozniacki (No.2) or Elina Svitolina (No.4) are the women best placed to do so – and with each suffering a scare in the second round, they’ll proceed with added determination.
Wozniacki, who saved two match points against Jana Fett, now faces Kiki Bertens. Should she find herself in a battle against the world No.32 Dutchwoman in their third career meeting, the world No.2 will draw on a well-entrenched spirit.
“Growing up in a sporty family where everyone is so competitive … you hate to lose,” Wozniacki explained of her fighting qualities. “You just learn and fight. You don’t give up, even if it’s a board game, tennis (or) soccer.”
Svitolina, the recent champion of Brisbane, is equally prepared to battle – and understands that may be required against an inspired compatriot in Marta Kostyuk. The Ukrainian teenager has lit up Melbourne Park as the youngest woman to progress this far in 22 years, and with her quarter of the draw populated by six unseeded players – including two other qualifiers in Luksika Kumkhum and Denisa Allertova – she could well make more history.
“First time I heard about her (was) when she won here. It's pretty cool that I'm playing someone from my country,” Svitolina admitted of her world No.521 opponent.
“I will try to prepare and, yeah, be ready for her game. For me it's very important for me to be there with my game and don't really think who is on the other side.”
Similar breakthroughs beckon in a fascinating men’s draw. While attention naturally focuses on top seed and 2009 champion Rafael Nadal, who faces Damir Dzumhur for the second time, other new contenders are emerging.
From Friday’s third round matches between Kyle Edmund vs Nikoloz Basilashvili and Ivo Karlovic vs Andreas Seppi, there’ll be a first-time Australian Open quarterfinalist. And while Grigor Dimitrov was a semifinalist at AO2017, he faces a tough challenge in fast-rising 20-year-old Andrey Rublev, a recent runner-up in Doha.
The must-watch battle for most, however, is the one between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nick Kyrgios, seeded No.15 and 17 respectively. The exciting local lists the Frenchman as a childhood idol alongside Roger Federer, and learned from his flashy on-court style.
“It was just the way he played his game. I liked his aggressive style of tennis. He had a big serve, big forehand. He played an entertaining style of tennis,” explained Kyrgios, who came to appreciate Tsonga as a person and a player when he watched first-hand as his idol progressed to the AO2008 final. “I went to all his practice sessions with a new ball. He signed it every day.”
Into the third round without the loss of a set – in contrast to Tsonga, who recovered from 2-5 deficit in the fifth set of his second-round with Denis Shapovalov – Kyrgios expects an entertaining contest.
“We played last year in Marseille. He beat me in a three-set battle,” he said of his only other match against Tsonga. “I've seen him play a lot. I know what he's going to bring. He knows what I'm going to bring. It's going to be a lot of fun.”
Idol or not, there’ll also be a more serious side as Kyrgios embraces his growing credentials. A quarterfinalist at AO2015 and more recently a champion in Brisbane, there’s a sense that like many at this wide-open Australian Open, he’s wise to the big opportunity.