Americans on the rise: Tommy Paul and Hailey Baptiste advance to Australian Open third round

This Wednesday marked the beginning of the second round at the Australian Open, and American players are already making headlines, with several representatives standing out in both the men’s and women’s draws.

The first to take the court were former top-10 Tommy Paul and world No. 70 Hailey Baptiste, both claiming decisive victories to advance to the second round. With these wins, we already have some of the first names confirmed in the Round of 32 at the year’s first major.

Paul is looking to defend the points he earned in 2025 after a campaign that reached the quarterfinals, and so far, he is off to a strong start. Without dropping a set, he recorded another straightforward victory, this time against Argentine Thiago Tirante. Meanwhile, Baptiste is emerging as one of the surprise names in the women’s Round of 32, reaching that stage for the first time in her Australian Open career. The 24-year-old barely conceded three games in her triumph over Storm Hunter.

Unlike in previous years, expectations for Tommy Paul (No. 20) were modest this week at the Australian Open, despite it being the major where he historically performs best. The American entered the tournament without much rhythm, following an early 2025 finish due to injury and a slow start to the season. However, he has needed very few matches to find his form, and just as in the first round against Kovacevic, Paul secured another straight-sets victory: 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in only two hours and four minutes. The American maintained control from start to finish and saved the few break points his opponent created.

Paul won 79% of points on his first serve compared to 75% for Tirante, while the largest differences came on the second serve, with 66% in Paul’s favor versus only 30% for his rival. The American saved all four break points he faced while converting four out of ten opportunities offered by the Argentine.

This marks Paul’s second straight win at the tournament, and he will now face the winner between Reilly Opelka and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round.

Few would have expected to see Hailey Baptiste in the Round of 32 at the start of the tournament. The world No. 70 had originally drawn a difficult clash against 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, but the Czech withdrew at the last moment due to injury. Baptiste first overcame lucky loser Taylor Townsend in three sets, and this time she had no trouble defeating veteran local Storm Hunter.

In one of the tournament’s prime arenas, the ANZ Arena, where former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin and Australian No. 2 Daria Kasatkina have also played this week, the 24-year-old displayed confidence from the start. Baptiste broke early and took a 4-1 lead. Hunter had no time to respond, and Baptiste accelerated to take the first set 6-2. In the second, Hunter briefly seemed to find a rhythm with an early break, but it was short-lived, as Baptiste quickly regained control.

The American was unstoppable on serve and strong on return points, converting three of the next seven break points without dropping her own service to win six consecutive games, taking the match 6-2, 6-1. Baptiste could face Coco Gauff in the third round, though the two-time Grand Slam champion must first overcome Serbian star Olga Danilovic.