Medvedev, Zheng, Ruud and more: Plenty of seeded exits before third round - Women proving stronger at Australian Open

The Australian Open has entered its third round with only 32 players remaining in both the men’s and women’s draws. Initially, 32 seeded players were expected to have a clear path until at least the third round, avoiding clashes with higher-ranked opponents. However, several surprises have led to early eliminations of big names.

So far, the women’s draw has seen more consistency, with 9 seeded players eliminated compared to 14 in the men’s draw. World No. 5 Zheng Qinwen and Daniil Medvedev are the highest-ranked early exits from their respective sides. The Chinese player was stunned by Laura Siegemund, while the Russian fell to teenager Learner Tien.

Women's Draw

The exit of Zheng Qinwen was undoubtedly the biggest upset in the women’s early rounds, as she lost to World No. 97 Laura Siegemund, a match that seemed to favor the 2024 Australian Open finalist. However, the German delivered a surprise, knocking out one of the title contenders and clearing a path in the draw towards Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals.

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Other notable exits include former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko (16th seed) and 2-time AO champion Victoria Azarenka (21st seed). Some of the eliminated players faced difficult matchups against lower-ranked but capable opponents. For example, Karolina Muchova was ousted by four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, while Ekaterina Alexandrova was eliminated in the opener by 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu.

In total, 9 seeded players have been eliminated in the women’s draw, with only 3 of them being in the top-20, showing a higher consistency among the top-ranked players compared to the men’s side, where 6 top-20 players have been eliminated (4 of them in the top-11).

Seeded players eliminated in the women’s draw

• Qinwen Zheng (5)

• Jelena Ostapenko (16)

• Karolina Muchova (20)

• Victoria Azarenka (21)

• Katie Boulter (22)

• Liudmila Samsonova (25)

• Ekaterina Alexandrova (26)

• Linda Noskova (29)

• Maria Sakkari (31)

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Men’s Draw

This year has been full of surprises on the men’s side, especially with the emergence of new talents making a name for themselves on tour. Daniil Medvedev, a 3-time finalist and world No. 5, was defeated by Learner Tien (19), while world No. 9 Andrey Rublev was knocked out by rising star Joao Fonseca (18) in one of the biggest shocks so far.

Similarly, Casper Ruud (6th seed) was eliminated by 19-year-old Jabu Mensik in the second round, and Stefanos Tsitsipas (11th seed) fell to 21-year-old Alex Michelsen. Other notable early exits include Frances Tiafoe, Hubert Hurkacz, Alexei Popyrin, Félix Auger-Aliassime, and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

Grigor Dimitrov also exited in the first round after retiring during the second set of his match against Francesco Passaro.

In total, 15 seeded players have been eliminated from the men’s draw, with 5 of them belonging to the top-11. In comparison, 10 players from the top-25 have been eliminated on the men’s side, compared to just 6 in the women’s.

Seeded players eliminated in the men’s draw

• Daniil Medvedev (5)

• Casper Ruud (6)

• Andrey Rublev (9)

• Grigor Dimitrov (10)

• Stefanos Tsitsipas (11)

• Frances Tiafoe (17)

• Hubert Hurkacz (18)

• Sebastian Korda (22)

• Alejandro Tabilo (23)

• Alexei Popyrin (25)

• Jordan Thompson (27)

• Sebastián Báez (28)

• Félix Auger-Aliassime (29)

• Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (30)

• Flavio Cobolli (32)

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