Day Five is upon us as the second round continues at the 2024 Australian Open featuring Iga Swiatek, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Elena Rybakina among those in action and taking centre stage on Rod Laver Arena.
Our preview looks ahead to Day Five including the main matches and storylines to watch as the second round heads towards its conclusion in Melbourne.
Swiatek-Collins, Alcaraz, Rybakina and Medvedev headline Rod Laver Arena
After seeing off Sofia Kenin in her opening round, it is the second likely main test for World No.1, Iga Swiatek as the draw on paper gets slightly easier from here on out as she faces Danielle Collins who has form in beating her in Australia.
Back in the 2022 semi-final, Collins thrashed Swiatek en route to being defeated in the final in Melbourne as 27th seed in a landmark run for the American. Since then though they have faced off a myriad of times with Swiatek winning each one. Their last meeting was back in August 2023 in Cincinnati won 6-1, 6-0 by the imperious Pole.
So it is very much anything could happen but it is unlikely to see Collins produce her heroics of a few years ago. Second up in the Day Session is Carlos Alcaraz who will see an opportunity opening up in the draw. Novak Djokovic in particular has not looked 100% so he will be one of the favourites from here looking good himself in his opener and he takes on Lorenzo Sonego in his second tie.
The night session sees imperious Kazakh, Elena Rybakina face Anna Blinkova albeit a lopsided Head to Head as the latter holds the lead albeit they played back in 2017 in St Petersburg so isn't a gauge of the World No.3 now who will hope to follow Aryna Sabalenka in another emphatic defeat. Then Daniil Medvedev continues his campaign against Emil Ruusuvuori.
Fractious Tomljanovic-Ostapenko tie set for John Cain Arena
One of the main outside court ties sees Ajla Tomljanovic face off against Jelena Ostapenko in a return of their meeting from Wimbledon in 2021 after a fiery on court spat which saw the Aussie accuse her of lying. Penko was trailing 4-0 in the tie when she insisted she needed a medical time out and Tomljanovic protested to the chair umpire that she was lying.
They then had a very famous on court spat in which at the handshake, they accused each other of terrible behaviour and zero respect with the words also uttered of being the worst player on the tour. They face off on John Cain Arena in a match that all fans of tennis aggro will want to enjoy.
Zverev, Rune, Pegula and Ruud all continue campaigns
Elsewhere some of the top ties include Casper Ruud facing Max Purcell, he begins a slate on Margaret Court Arena featuring Jessica Pegula, Holger Rune and Victoria Azarenka. On that John Cain Arena, the aforementioned tie is joined by Alexander Zverev, Daria Kasatkina will face Sloane Stephens.
While Grigor Dimitrov takes on Aussie hero Thanasi Kokkinakis in a back-to-back Aussie feel as the Tomljanovic-Ostapenko match follows. Others on outside courts include Jack Draper facing Tommy Paul, Emma Raducanu facing Yafan Wang as well as Elina Svitolina. Another stacked schedule incoming for Day Five.
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
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T-Fight mode activated in Australia 🔛
Are you as excited as we are to see this second round between Danielle Collins and Iga Swiatek?
#TecnifibreTeam#TFight
📸 @Ginie44
The end of Ostapenko-Tomljanovic.
“Your behavior is terrible, terrible!”
“You’re the one to talk!”
“You have zero respect, yes?”
“The worst player on the tour.”
#Wimbledon#ImJustHereForTheHandshake