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By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday January 15, 2024

 
Jannik Sinner

Defending champion Jannik Sinner takes on Aussie Tristan Schoolkate as he looks to stretch his Aussie Open win streak to nine. What we're watching on Day 5.

Photo Source: TTV

Day 5 of the Australian Open will feature second-round matchups for the bottom half on the women’s side and the top half on the men’s side.

Tennis Express

Here’s the schedule for the big showcourts:


And the full order of play is here:

Here’s what we’ll be keeping close tabs on…

Sinner at Night

World No.1 Jannik Sinner looks to hold serve again on Rod Laver Arena, as he takes on Australian wild card Tristan Schoolkate in the first match of the night session. The defending champion was pushed by Nicolas Jarry in round one, but won tiebreaks in the opening two sets in tiebreaks before closing out the Chilean in straights.

Sinner has won 15 straight matches at the hard court majors and he has a favorable draw, with Alcaraz, Djokovic and Zverev all in the bottom half. His mission for Thursday. Keep his fuel in the tank against the World No.173.

Iga Opens Play

World No.2 Iga Swiatek opens up action at 1130 local time against Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova. The 28-year-old is a bit of a late bloomer. She reached her first three WTA finals last season and won her maiden title. She had never won a main draw match at a major until she defeated Katy Voleynets in her opening match.

Swiatek, meanwhile, is hoping to push through to her best Aussie Open performance to date. The Pole reached the semifinals in 2022 but has failed to reach the quarterfinals in her other five appearances at Melbourne Park.

Will this be the season that Swiatek steps up and reaches a higher level at the hard court Slams? Since winning the US Open title in 2022, she has failed to get beyond the quarterfinals in her last four hard court major appearances.

Fonseca to the Fore

18-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca has been getting lots of attention after he stunned ninth-seeded Andrey Rublev in straight sets on Day 3. The bandwagon is getting full, and even four-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz admitted that he was blown away watching the youngster hit Rublev off the court.

“We're going to put Joao Fonseca's name on the list of the best players in the world really soon,” Alcaraz said.

Playing in his first major main draw, Fonseca will take on talented Italian Lorenzo Sonego for a spot in the third round on Thursday (fourth match on 1573 Arena). He beat Sonego in their only previous meeting at Bucharest last year.

Other Notable Day 5 Clashes

38-year-old Gael Monfils, the oldest player remaining in the tournament, is back in action against Germany’s Daniel Altmaier… 19-year-old American Learner Tien takes on Daniil Medvedev on Margaret Court Arena. Medvedev struggled against World No.418 Kasadit Samrej, so don’t be surprised if Tien, ranked 121, pushed the Russian… Kia Arena is a dream for American fans, as Amanda Anisimova takes on Emma Raducanu kicks off the day. Ben Shelton (vs Carreno Busta), Frances Tiafoe (vs Marozsan) and Danielle Collins (vs Aiava) will follow… Holger Rune and Matteo Berrettini will play a heavyweight tilt on John Cain Arena, and Denis Shapovalov and Lorenzo Musetti will play one for one-handed backhand purists on Court 3.

 

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