MELBOURNE, Australia — The American players continued their early run of surprises at the Australian Open on Thursday as Jensen Brooksby eliminated men’s No. 2 Casper Ruud and Katie Wolinec stunned No. 9 Veronika Kudermetova on the women’s side.
Brooksby, 22, of Sacramento, scored a 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-2 upset of Rudd in their second-round match at Rod Laver Arena, meaning a pair of Californians in their 20s have knocked out the first two players in the men’s group.
Brooksby’s upset came in the same round and on the same court that 27-year-old Mackenzie McDonald beat No. 1 seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain on Wednesday. This makes this the first Grand Slam tournament since the 2002 Australian Open that the No. 1-2 seeds have lost before the end of the second round.
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Volynets, a 21-year-old qualifier from Walnut Creek, Calif., held on for a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win over Russia’s Kudermetova.
With the wins by Brooksby and Wolinec, there are 13 American men and women in the third round, the most at the Australian Open since 2004, according to an ESPN Stats & Information poll.
Brooksby is ranked 39th and is making his Australian Open debut. He was due to enter a year ago, but fell ill with COVID-19 the day before he was due to fly to Australia.
“Hopefully this is the first of many, many good years here to come,” Brooksby said.
Ruud was runner-up at the French Open against Nadal in June and at the US Open against Carlos Alcaraz in September.
Brooksby’s unusual playing style, including his two-handed backhand volley, and ability to track his opponent’s shots were a problem for Ruud, who took a medical break after the second set.
The biggest problem for Brooksby was closing this one. He had three match points while trying to serve out the win at 5-3 in the third set, but failed to win any of them.
After being broken there, missing a backhand, Brooksby sat in his changing seat and yelled to himself, “How?! How?! God!”
Ruud, a 24-year-old Norwegian player, raced to the end of that set, but Brooksby rallied in the fourth to take a 3-0 lead.
Brooksby wrapped things up 1 hour, 15 minutes after his first chance.
“I was a little bit more disappointed that I didn’t close it out and my mentality was changing a little bit,” he said. “Those are the situations you have to deal with sometimes in games and you’re going to face them. I think the biggest question is: How do you react? I just told myself to reboot.”
Brooksby’s performance continued the streak of strong performances by the United States men in Week 1, a significant development considering no one has won a Grand Slam title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open.
In reaching the third round, Brooksby joins compatriots Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul and JJ Wolff, who also won on Thursday, along with McDonald, No. 16 Francis Tiafoe and No. 29 Sebastian Korda, who all triumphed on Wednesday.
Shelton beat qualifier Nicolas Jarry of Chile 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3), 7-5; Paul returned to No. 30 Alejandro Davidovic Fokina of Spain 6-2, 2-6, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4; and Wolff cruised past No. 23 Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
“A lot of Americans are doing really well right now and we’re all pushing each other,” said Brooksby, who will now face Paul. “I’m looking forward to the next one.”
Volynets reached the third round of a Grand Slam event for the first time after upsetting Kudermetova.
“It literally gives me chills because the fans here are just amazing,” Volinec said. “I’ve never played in such a full stadium and with so many people keeping the energy up for me. It was great.”
Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus extended her winning streak to six by beating American Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-1 to reach the third round.
The No. 5 seed Sabalenka, who began the year by winning the title in Adelaide, trailed 3-1 at the start of the match but won five straight games to take the first set and then ease into the second.
“I expected a great level from her today; that’s why I stayed focused from the beginning to the end,” Sabalenka said.
Sabalenka will play either Elise Mertens of Belgium, the No. 26 seed, or American Lauren Davis in the third round.
No. 19 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia beat American Taylor Townsend 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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