Australian Open: Musetti, Shelton & Khachanov Advance to Third Round

Top 20 Stars Musetti, Shelton & Khachanov Cruise Through in Melbourne Night Session

© AFP

Adrien Guyot

le 22/01/2026 à 07h07

2 min to read

Basavareddy Nishesh Darderi Luciano Khachanov Karen Musetti Lorenzo Open d'Australie Shelton Ben Sonego Lorenzo Sweeny Dane Vacherot Valentin

Three top 20 players were in action overnight from Wednesday to Thursday in Melbourne. World No. 5 Lorenzo Musetti faced his compatriot Lorenzo Sonego on Margaret Court Arena.

Just months after Sonego's victory at the Paris Masters 1000, Musetti sought revenge in this encounter. After defeating Raphaël Collignon in the first round, the Italian aimed to keep his momentum going.

However, caution was warranted against Sonego, world No. 40, who easily eliminated Carlos Taberner in his opening match. In a match where he alternated between hot and cold (41 winners, 61 unforced errors), the quarterfinalist from the 2025 edition could not take a set off a top 5 player.

Musetti, who earned 22 break points in this match, ultimately prevailed (6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in 2h49). He will face Tomas Machac or Stefanos Tsitsipas in the next round.

Defending Semifinalist Shelton Holds His Ground

Ben Shelton, who reached the semifinals last year, faced Dane Sweeny, who had beaten Gaël Monfils. After his win against Ugo Humbert, the American, world No. 7, confirmed this success by logically dominating the Australian (6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in 1h43).

He will meet Valentin Vacherot, who defeated Rinky Hijikata (6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in 2h27), in an attempt to qualify for the Australian Open round of 16 for the third time in four appearances.

Finally, Karen Khachanov also advances. The Russian had no difficulty dispatching qualifier Nishesh Basavareddy (6-1, 6-4, 6-3 in 1h55).

After beating Gilles Cervara's new protégé, world No. 18 will face Luciano Darderi in the next round. The latter eliminated one of the in-form players at the start of the season, Sebastian Baez (6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 in 2h26).