Australian Open: Two-time champion Osaka rallies to beat Muchova

Naomi Osaka claimed a brilliant comeback win over Karolina Muchova to progress into round three at the Australian Open on Wednesday.

Muchova took the first set with ease, yet Osaka hit back to prevail 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 in front of a vociferous crowd at Melbourne Park.

Having conceeded on her serve twice in the opener, Osaka offered up just three break points across sets two and three as she applied the pressure to the 20th seed.

Osaka saw two match points fall by the wayside as Muchova offered resistance on her own serve in the final game, but an excellent, looping return from the two-time Australian Open champion left the Czech scrambling.

Muchova's shot dropped out, sealing Osaka's passage into the third round.

Other women's winners included No. 3 Coco Gauff, No. 7 Jessica Pegula, No. 14 Mirra Andreeva and No. 30 Leylah Fernandez. Gauff, the 2023 U.S. Open champion who has won all seven matches she's played this season, now faces Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open runner-up.

Novak Djokovic added to his record collection by playing in his 430th career Grand Slam match — one more than Roger Federer — and, though he dropped a set for the second outing in a row with new coach Andy Murray by his side, moved into the third round with a 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2 win over Jaime Faria.

Other men advancing included No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz, who joked that he is now a “serve bot” after hitting 14 aces while dismissing Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0, 6-1, 6-4.

“The serve’s about confidence and feeling,” Alcaraz said. “Today I felt great.”

Seeded losers included No. 6 Casper Ruud, a three-time major finalist; No. 22 Sebastian Korda and No. 27 Jordan Thompson.

Ruud was eliminated by 19-year-old Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. Mensik equalled his best Grand Slam showing by getting to the third round and joined 18-year-old João Fonseca — who upset No. 9 Andrey Rublev on Tuesday — as the first pair of teens to beat top-10 men at the same Grand Slam tournament since Djokovic and Murray did it at Wimbledon in 2006.