Australian Open Day 3: Serena, Djokovic, Federer and more in action

Australian Open 2016 Day 3 matches to watch: Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and more headline Wednesday's schedule.

Author:
Jamie Lisanti
Publish date:
Jan 19, 2016

Here are the matches to watch on Tuesday on Day 2 of the 2016 Australian Open in Melbourne. Play begins on all courts at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Click here for the full order of play, and see the full TV schedule here.

Sharapova, Serena, Federer and Djokovic all on RLA

Last year’s runner-up Maria Sharapova will begin the day session on Rod Laver on Wednesday against Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich, followed by No. 1 Serena Williams vs. Su-Wei Hsieh. After cruising through his opening match, Roger Federer returns to play Alexandr Dolgopolov in the second round (third match, Rod Laver). Federer leads their head-to-head 2–0, with their last match coming in 2014 at Indian Wells. No. 1 Novak Djokovic will continue his title defense against French wild card Quentin Halys, who won his first ATP match on Monday, beating Ivan Dodig (second night match, Rod Laver).

No. 5 Nadal loses epic vs. Verdasco; Murray, Muguruza advance on Day 2

While the top stars headline the RLA’s lineup on Wednesday, the most intriguing match-up of the bunch is No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska’s match against Canadian Eugenie Bouchard (first night match, Rod Laver). The pair has only played each other once in their careers, a 2014 Madrid match where Radwanska won 7–6(3), 6–2. Bouchard, who reached the semifinals in Melbourne in 2014 and the quarterfinals in 2015, is back to full fitness after suffering a concussion at the U.S. Open and she is coming off a run to the final in Hobart.

No. 7-seed Nishikori leads Margaret Court lineup

Kei Nishikori will start the day against American Austin Krajicek, followed by Belinda Bencic taking on Timea Babos. No. 6-seed Petra Kvitova will play Daria Gavrilova (second night match, Margaret Court) after Gavrilova beat Czech veteran Lucie Hradecka on Monday. Kvitova beat Gavrilova in their last and only meeting in September 2015 in Wuhan.

No. 2 Simona Halep upset by qualifier Shuai Zhang at Australian Open

Nick Kyrgios vs. Pablo Cuevas (not before 2:45 a.m. ET, Hisense Arena): The Australian once again gets an evening slot on Hisense. No. 29-seed Kyrgios cruised in his opening match, beating Pablo Carreño Busta in straight sets in 71 minutes.

Lauren Davis vs. Magdalena Rybarikova (first match, Show Court 3) and Denis Kudla vs. Andreas Seppi (fourth match, Show Court 3): The Americans will take over Show Court 3 on Wednesday as Davis and Kudla look to build on their solid first round victories. Davis defeated No. 26-seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets and Kudla got past Filip Krajinovic after the Serb retired in the third set.

Sports gambling consultant Scott Ferguson addresses match-fixing

Pierre-Hugues Herbert vs. Noah Rubin (fourth match, Court 13): World No. 328 Noah Rubin pulled off a huge upset over No. 17-seed Benoit Paire on Monday, earning his first main draw win as a wildcard. With the victory, Rubin joined Andy Murray as the only teenager outside the top 300 to defeat a top 20 player at a Grand Slam in the last 30 years.

Ana Konjuh vs. Daria Kasatkina (first match, Court 13): Kasatkinaknocked out No. 27-seed Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the first round. The 69th-ranked Russian has an opportunity to advance in Melbourne against fellow 18-year-old and World No. 87 Konjuh on Wednesday.

More matches to watch: Dominic Thiem (AUT)[19] vs. Nicolas Almagro (second match, Court 6); Kristina Mladenovic vs. Nicole Gibbs (fourth match, Court 6); Irina Falconi vs. Roberta Vinci (second match, Hisense); Marin Cilic vs. Albert Ramos-Vinolas (second match, Show Court 2)