Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka overcame a wobbly display to reach the Australian Open fourth round while Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz were at their dazzling best on a warm but windy Friday at Melbourne Park.

The Italian tennis player showed up at the Australian Open with his famously lengthy locks sheared, and he wound up winning his first-round match by a hair.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (AP) _ Results Friday from Australian Open at Melbourne Park (seedings in parentheses): Tommy Paul (12), United States, def. Roberto Carballes Baena, Spain, 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-0. Alexander Zverev (2), Germany, def. Jacob Fearnley, Britain, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka was pushed to the limit in setting up an Australian Open showdown with talented teenager Mirra Andreeva on Friday while Carlos Alcaraz dropped a set before surging into the last 16.

Naomi Osaka is back in the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 2022 and she got there with wins at the Australian Open over two women who blocked her path last year.

Novak Djokovic made a slice of Grand Slam history on his way into the Australian Open third round on Wednesday but last year's women's finalist Zheng Qinwen was knocked out in the biggest shock so far.

Last year's runner-up Zheng Qinwen was knocked out of the Australian Open on Wednesday in the biggest shock so far while defending champion Aryna Sabalenka had to battle serve jitters to make the third round.

Naomi Osaka is back in the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 2022 and she got there with wins at the Australian Open over

Zheng Qinwen hits a return during the women's singles 2nd round match between Zheng Qinwen of China and Laura Siegemund of Germany at Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 15, 2025. (Xinhua/Ma Ping)

Zheng Qinwen is such a popular star in the professional tennis world that brands coveting the Chinese star's huge exposure have set sights on her opponent.

Today we bear witness to the whole of Gaza destroyed and its indigenous people made homeless through a brutal and systematic policy of Genocide by Israel.”Hundreds of protesters marched through the rain from Victoria State Library to the Flinders Street Station.