On Wednesday, a trio of surprising sweet 16s -- Alina Korneeva, Brenda Fruhvirtova and Mirra Andreeva -- play their second-round matches. 

Their reward for advancing, beyond 180,000 Australian dollars? An audience with three of the game’s very best. Fruhvirtova draws No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka. For Andreeva, it’s her acknowledged idol, No.6 Ons Jabeur, and Korneeva meets No.10 Beatriz Haddad Maia. 

As qualifiers, Korneeva and Fruhvirtova have won all four of their matches Down Under.

Australian Open: Scores | Draws | Order of play

Playing one year ago in her first Grand Slam, Korneeva won the Australian Open junior title. On Sunday, she defeated Sara Sorribes Tormo 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. She’s so new to this game that she politely thanked the moderator for congratulating her on the win.

Must See

“I think it’s difficult when you are 16 and you win first round of Grand Slam,” Korneeva told reporters. “It’s so difficult to feel this in my body, because I really can’t understand that I’m here and I’m not playing juniors already.”

Yes, it’s a whole different level. After losing to Sabalenka in the first round (6-0, 6-1 in 53 minutes), 18-year-old German qualifier Ella Seidel was more efficient packing up. She stuffed one Australian Open towel into her bag, wrapped another around her shoulders and cleverly dropped a third on top of her bag.

For Sabalenka, it’s the second straight teenage qualifier -- and the youngest player she’s ever met in a Grand Slam. Fruhvirtova is the younger sister of 18-year-old Linda, a rising Czech star who is already ranked No.84. Brenda, nursing a wrist injury, defeated Ana Bogdan 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. Afterward, she fell to her knees and sobbed.

After dropping the first set, Brenda said to herself, “The Grand Slams, there are only four in the year. You don’t get the chance so often. So, OK, even though I’m not feeling so well today, I still have to fight and try to win as many games and points as I can.”

Andreeva, is the most accomplished of the three, breaking through last spring in Madrid to reach the Round of 16. She followed that up with a third-round appearance at Roland Garros and another Round of 16 at Wimbledon. A week ago in Brisbane, she made the quarters -- where she lost to another Czech teenager, Lindas Noskova.

Andreeva has never played Jabeur, who was a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva.

These precocious 16-year-olds have not been awed by the sprawling Grand Slam landscape -- and the expectations that come with it.

“If you do everything on the court and if you do everything on the practice, the result will be, and that’s all,” Korneeva said. “It doesn’t matter what age you are.

“I just need to enjoy because I’m just 16 and [don’t] have to win this match. I just need to show my best.”

Gauff contemplates history

In her last Grand Slam as a teenager, Coco Gauff is looking at some pretty heady history.

The US Open champion has now won eight straight matches in majors and faces fellow American Caroline Dolehide. If she reaches the final, she’d be the first teenager since Maria Sharapova (2007) to do that; Martina Hingis (1999) was the last teen to win this title. Naomi Osaka (2018 US Open, 2019 Australian Open) was the last teenager to win back-to-back Slams.

The No.4-seeded Gauff, a 6-3, 6-0 first-round winner over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, said she was nervous going in.

“I feel like a lot of my shots that I’m confident in when you’re nervous there is always a second-guessing feeling,” she told reporters. “Finally I was able to let go and just play free and put the ball deep.”

Gauff defeated Dolehide in their only previous match, 2020 Lexington.

United Cup momentum

They sit at No.1 and No.5 respectively in the doubles rankings -- and yet, here are Storm Hunter and Laura Siegemund facing each other in the second round of the singles draw.

They have never played singles, but nine days ago in Sydney there were fireworks. In a United Cup semifinal, Siegemund teamed with Alexander Zverev to defeat Hunter and Matthew Ebden of Australia in a rollicking 15-13 super tiebreak, sending Germany into the final.

Both players carry significant momentum into Melbourne. Siegemund was 3-0 in doubles, including the final over Poland, and Hunter was 3-1 with wins over Serbia, Great Britain and the United States. Hunter, ranked No.180 in singles, won three qualifying matches.

Krejcikova rallies

It was a scratchy start to 2024 for No.9 seed Barbora Krejcikova. She lost in three sets to qualifier Anna Kalinskaya at the Adelaide International -- then dropped the first set in Melbourne to No.116-ranked Mai Hontama.

“Yeah, the frustration was there,” Krejcikova said later. “I felt that I can do better and that I can play much better tennis, and I wasn’t showing it.”

Krejcikova came back to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 and draws Tamara Korpatsch in the second round. Korpatsch a 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 winner over Jodie Burrage, and Krejcikova have never played.

Schedule of play

Rod Laver Arena

Day session starts at 12 p.m. local time

(6) Ons Jabeur vs. Mirra Andreeva

Followed by: (10) Alex de Minaur vs. Matteo Arnaldi

Night session starts at 7 p.m. local time

(2) Aryna Sabalenka vs. (Q) Brenda Fruhvirtova

Followed by: (1) Novak Djokovic vs. Alexei Popyrin

Margaret Court Arena

Day session starts at 12 p.m. local time

(4) Jannik Sinner vs. (Q) Jesper de Jong

Followed by: (4) Coco Gauff vs. Caroline Dolehide

Night session starts at 7 p.m. local time

(7) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Jordan Thompson

Followed by: (8) Maria Sakkari vs. Elina Avanesyan

John Cain Arena

Day session starts at 11 a.m. local time

(WC) Caroline Wozniacki vs. (Q) Maria Timofeeva

Not before 1 p.m. 

Laura Siegemund vs (Q) Storm Hunter

Not before 3 p.m. 

(16) Ben Shelton vs. Christopher O'Connell

Followed by: (5) Andrey Rublev vs. Christopher Eubanks