It was a good day for the seeds today with Hubert Hurkacz being the only top twenty seed to lose, he lost in straights to Adrian Mannarino. The wind played havoc with players on the outside courts in particular, making conditions pretty nasty for a lot.

Sascha Zverev once again looked impressive in a straight-set rout over John Millman, he hit his forehand very well. I really feel like this is his time to win a slam but there is still a lot of hard work to be done, that goes without saying. The fact Djokovic isn’t in his way (or in his half now) could be key to keeping himself fresh should he make the final. Reports also suggest that the performance of the round went to Gael Monfils who really gave Alexander Bublik a going over. Solid and patient throughout, it was by all account a virtually flawless performance. It can be difficult to get too carried away with his performances as we have seen these signs before but if he can keep this up he will take some beating.

There were few problems for Rafa Nadal against Yannick Hanfmann. The German actually played quite well but Nadal made the adjustments needed when Hanfmann was having success with his backhand crosscourt. Karen Khachanov is next for the sixth seed. Carlos Alcaraz won in straights again, this time against Dusan Lajovic who really found this matchup difficult. One of the notes I read said Alcaraz didn’t get many cheap points off the serve which could be an issue going forward but he had all the tools needed here to come through unscathed. Denis Shapovalov had to work hard in his five-set battle with Soon-Woo Kwon. Some of this was his own doing as it was a very patchy performance but the Korean really stepped up his game here and led by two sets to one.

There were also wins for Matteo Berrettini in four (v Stefan Kozlov), Pablo Carreno Busta in five (v Tallon Griekspoor) and Christian Garin in five (v Perdo Martinez). Aslan Karatsev won in four against Mackenzie McDonald. Probably unsurprisingly he came out quite cold after last weeks exertions and the five-set marathon he played in his opener but he found a decent level after that. Finally, Sebastian Korda won in five gruelling sets against Corentin Moutet. The Frenchman actually served for this in the fourth but started cramping. Just before the final set breaker started in this 4 hours and 49 minutes encounter Moutet decided it was a good time to have a selfie with a fan. Strange! Good heart from Seb though who plays PCB next.

The form players had it all their own way in the women’s event too. Ash Barty dropped just the two games in her 6/1 6/1 victory over Lucia Bronzetti. The serve and slice are working very nicely and she didn’t even face a break-point today. Camila Giorgi will be interesting next as she takes the match off your racket in most cases. Paula Badosa also kept up her impressive form. This time against Martina Trevisan 6/0 6/3. Like Barty, she didn’t face a breakpoint all match. Badosa still has her thigh strapped up but it isn’t hindering her performance at the moment. Last years Champion, Naomi Osaka, also progressed with a 6/0 6/4 scoreline against Madison Brengle. In all honesty Brengle’s best chance here was hoping her opponent missed the court as it isn’t a great matchup for her. It didn’t happen. The American won just 43% of her first serve points and 41% behind her second. That just doesn’t cut it against a sharp Osaka.

Elina Svitolina had a dip midmatch against Harmony Tan. She had match point for a straight-set win but ended up going the distance. Tan had a left hip problem which was showing and she pulled out at 1-5 in the decider. The Ukrainian will play Vika Azarenka in the third round after she beat an inconsistent Jill Teichmann 6/1 6/2. Vika and Svitolina have played four times before with Vika winning all of them, this should be a cracker. Barbora Krejcikova also won in straights today, apparently, this wasn’t as great as the 6/2 6/3 scoreline suggests against Xiyu Wang but it is job done. Jelena Ostapenko next.

Around the courts there were also wins for Madison Keys (v Jacqueline Cristian) and Marta Kostyuk (v Sara Sorribes Tormo, who was the 32nd seed), she will play her pal Paula Badosa next. Maria Sakkari played much better than in her first round against Tatjana Maria in her 6/1 6/4 victory over Qinwen Zheng. Belinda Bencic was the highest seed to lose in the women’s, she lost to Amanda Anisimova. Bencic said after that she clearly isn’t fit right now as she ran out of steam in her 6/2 7/5 loss.

Al Davies (Andy Del Potro).