Australian Open Day 6 preview: Breaking down the 12 remaining seeds

Time for an early temperature check at the Australian Open. Spoiler: The heat on the top players has been intense.

Through two rollicking rounds, we’ve already seen No.3-ranked Elena Rybakina, No.5 Jessica Pegula, No.6 Ons Jabeur, No.7 Marketa Vondrousova and No.8 Maria Sakkari sent home, while No.9 Karolina Muchova withdrew before the tournament. Seven of the Top 16 seeds are already gone.

The most dominant of the elite survivors? Aryna Sabalenka dropped only six games, averaging 60 minutes per match. Meanwhile, World No.1 Iga Swiatek, who came back from being down two breaks in the third set against Danielle Collins, has clocked a staggering 5 hours and 5 minutes of court time. 

Australian Open: Scores | Draws | Order of play

“I mean, you’re not going to lie to yourself, obviously that you’re losing 4-1,” Swiatek said. “The only thing you can do is just try again. At that point you kind of know that you may lose. You can actually relax a little bit more because you know that, OK, probably I'm going to lose, so I don’t care anymore.

“Sometimes it works like that.”

Melbourne has been awash in fresh faces. Sixteen-year-old 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva upset Jabeur and 20-year-old Maria Timofeeva -- one of four qualifiers still alive -- defeated 2018 Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki. Anna Blinkova outlasted Rybakina, winning in a record 42-point match-tiebreak, while Clara Burel shocked Pegula.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the remaining seeds in the draw:

No. 1. Iga Swiatek

Sets lost: 1

Time on court: 5 hours, 5 minutes

Next opponent: Linda Noskova (head-to-head 1-0, Swiatek)

Swiatek won the last five games against Collins to run her winning streak to 18 straight matches, making her the only woman or man to reach the singles third round at each of the Grand Slam events since 2020. She’s now 49-4 in the majors against unseeded players and will try to make it an even 50 against Noskova.

No. 2. Aryna Sabalenka

Sets lost: 0

Time on court: 2 hours

Next opponent: No.28 seed Lesia Tsurenko (head-to-head 1-1)

After losing the Brisbane final to Rybakina, Sabalenka, one of the featured players in "Break Point" has hit the reset button, pounding a pair of young qualifiers. Tsurenko, a 6-3, 6-4 second-round winner over Rebeka Masarova, could provide more resistance. A win here would give Sabalenka 10 straight in Melbourne, one less than Serena Williams’ between 2017-19.

No. 4. Coco Gauff

Sets lost: 0

Time on court: 2 hours, 44 minutes

Next opponent: Alycia Parks (head-to-head 0-0)

Caroline Dolehide pushed Gauff to a first set tiebreak, but she adjusted nicely for a 7-6 (2), 6-2 win.  Parks, a fellow American, was a 7-5, 6-4 winner over No.32 Leylah Fernandez. They’ve known each other for years but have never played a formal match. Gauff started the season 7-0 and has a streak of nine straight major match-wins.

No. 9. Barbora Krejcikova

Sets lost: 1

Time on court: 3 hours, 55 minutes

Next opponent: qualifier Storm Hunter (head-to-head 0-0)

Krejcikova was a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Tamara Korpatsch, while Hunter defeated Laura Siegemund 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. The two have never played. Coincidentally, Krejcikova and Siegemund embark on their Grand Slam career as doubles partners. They reached the semifinals in Adelaide and are seeded No.5 here.

No. 10. Beatriz Haddad Maia

Sets lost: 1

Time on court: 3 hours, 38 minutes

Next opponent: qualifier Maria Timofeeva (head-to-head 0-0)

Timofeeva, who took out Alize Cornet and Wozniacki (both 33), gets 27-year-old Haddad Maia -- in her prime. Haddad Maia defeated 16-year-old qualifier Alina Korneev 6-1, 6-2. This will be their first match.

No. 11. Jelena Ostapenko

Sets lost: 1

Time on court: 3 hours, 23 minutes

Next opponent: Victoria Azarenka (head-to-head 3-0, Azarenka)

Ostapenko went the distance in her second-round match, dispatching home favorite Ajla Tomljanovic 6-0, 3-6, 6-4. This sets up a tasty matchup between two former Grand Slam champions.

No. 12. Zheng Qinwen

Sets lost: 1

Time on court: 3 hours, 55 minutes

Next opponent: Wang Yafan (head-to-head 1-0, Wang)

Zheng struggled to get past Ashlyn Krueger in the first round (3-6, 6-2, 6-3) but looked more settled in defeating Katie Boulter 6-3, 6-3. Wang reached the semifinals two weeks ago in Auckland.

No.18 Victoria Azarenka

Sets lost: 2

Time on court: 4 hours, 41 minutes

Next opponent: Jelena Ostapenko (head-to-head 3-0, Azarenka)

Azarenka needed three sets to subdue Clara Tauson 6-4, 3-6 6-2 in a match that ended after 1 a.m. Azarenka has won five of six matches Down Under to start the year -- one of them a three-set gem over Ostapenko in the Brisbane quarterfinals.

No.19 Elina Svitolina

Sets lost: 0

Time on court: 2 hours, 4 minutes

Next opponent: Viktorija Golubic (head-to-head 1-0, Svitolina)

After Sabalenka, Svitolina has been the most efficient, winning matches against Australian wild card Taylah Preston and Viktoriya Tomova. Golubic, on the other hand, needed three sets against No.15 Veronika Kudermetova and Katerina Siniakova.

No.26 Jasmine Paolini 

Sets lost: 0

Time on court: 2 hours, 19 minutes

Next opponent: Anna Blinkova

Paolini has put in little work through two rounds, dropping no more than four games in any set. She’ll next take on Blinkova, an opponent coming off an emotionally charged, record-setting performance in taking out Rybakina.  

No.27 Emma Navarro

Sets lost: 2

Time on court: 4 hours, 48 minutes

Next opponent: Dayana Yastremska (head-to-head 0-0)

With the departure of Pegula, Navarro and Sloane Stephens are the only Americans left in the top half of the draw. Navarro has weathered two three-set matches, defeating Wang Xiyu and Elisabetta Cocciaretto. Yastremska took out No. 7 Marketa Vondrousova in the first round.

No.28 Lesia Tsurenko

Sets lost: 1

Time on court: 3 hours, 54 minutes

Next opponent: Aryna Sabalenka (head-to-head 1-1)

Tsurenko needed more than two-and-a-half hours to overcome Lucia Bronzetti in the opening match before a relatively straightforward contest in the second round. Tsurenko will have her hands full against the defending champion, but she did knock off Sabalenka six years ago in Hobart.