Hovde, Colak and Rahman Advance to Third Round at Australian Open Junior Championships; Collins Through to Quarterfinals in Melbourne; Americans Earn Five Wins as Les Petits As Gets Underway

Three Americans have reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open Junior Championships, posting victories on the third day of the tournament.

No. 13 seed Liv Hovde had the easiest time of it, needing just 41 minutes to defeat Georgia Pedone of Italy 6-0, 6-1. No. 12 seed Ozan Colak took just over an hour to defeat Luis Alvarez Valdes of Mexico 6-4, 6-0, while Yannik Rahman earned an upset, taking out a lethargic looking Olaf Pieczkowski of Poland, the No. 8 seed, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Rahman, a 17-year-old left-hander from Florida, is competing in his first junior slam. 

The heat was intense Monday in Melbourne, so minimizing the amount of time playing tennis in it should be helpful going forward.

Aidan Kim and Clervie Ngounoue were eliminated in their second round matches, although both are still alive in doubles. 

All junior matches are being streamed on ESPN Plus.

Monday's second round junior matches featuring Americans:

Liv Hovde[13] v Georgia Pedone(ITA) 6-0, 6-1
Ekaterina Khayrutdinova(RUS) d. Clervie Ngounoue[5] 6-4, 6-2

Yannik Rahman d. Olaf Pieczkowski[8](POL) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
Jakub Mensik[4](CZE) d. Aidan Kim 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Ozan Colak[12] d. Luis Alvarez Valdes(MEX) 6-4, 6-0

Tuesday's second round junior matches featuring Americans:

Qavia Lopez d. Victoria Mboko[14](CAN) 6-1, 5-7, 6-4
Bruno Kuzuhara[1] v Edward Winter[WC](AUS) 7-5, 6-1

Both US men who reached the fourth round of the Australian Open lost Monday, but Danielle Collins again fought back to advance to the quarterfinals, beating Elise Mertens of Belgium 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 51 minutes. With this run, Collins should reach a new career-high in the rankings, with her previous high of 23 coming back in 2019, when she reached the semifinals of the Australian Open.

Monday's fourth round results of Americans:

Danielle Collins[27] d. Elise Mertens[19](BEL) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4

Stefano Tsitsipas[4](GRE) d. Taylor Fritz[20] 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 

Daniil Medvedev[2](RUS) d. Maxime Cressy 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 7-5

Tuesday's quarterfinals featuring Americans:

Madison Keys v Barbora Krejcikova[4](CZE) 6-3, 6-2

Ashleigh Barty[1](AUS) d. Jessica Pegula[21] 6-2, 6-0

The top seeds won their first round matches today at Les Petits As, as did five of the six Americans in action.  Girls No. 1 seed Alena Kovackova of the Czech Republic defeated wild card Victoire Lansaman of France 6-2, 6-0 and boys top seed Flynn Thomas had an equally straightforward win, beating Gabriel Jacquemin of France 6-0, 6-2.

Sebastian Bielen of the United States defeated No. 14 seed Marat Salbiev of Russia 6-3, 6-0, with Sabiev one of two seeds eliminated Monday. No. 11 seed Andreas Messis of Greece lost to Matei Todoran of Romania 5-7, 7-6(6), 3-0, ret.

 

Two seeded Americans advanced: No. 10 Carel Ngounoue defeated Arthur Lenglet of France 6-3, 7-5 and No. 16 Ford McCollum beat French wild card Charles De Saint Laumer 6-1, 6-2. Jack Kennedy[8] and Keaton Hance will play their first round matches on Tuesday. 

The only seeded US girl, No. 16 Sydney Jara, cruised past Georgiana Mititelu of Great Britain 6-1, 6-0, while Marcella Roversi advanced with a 7-6(6), 6-1 victory over Thi Lien Mouret of France. Julieta Pareja lost to unseeded Hannah Klugman of Great Britain, a semifinalist last year, 6-2, 6-0.  Capucine Jauffret will play her first round match on Tuesday. 

The only seeded girl to fall Monday was No. 8 Scarlette Hetherington of France, who was beaten by Ekaterina Khodzhaeva of Russia 6-1, 6-0.

Live streaming of three courts is available at the tournament website, as is live scoring via Tennis Ticker.