Sixth seed Ons Jabeur and former champion Caroline Wozniacki fell victim to exciting young Russians in the Australian Open second round Wednesday.
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The veteran pair were no match for Mirra Andreeva and Maria Timofeeva, who emphatically stamped their mark on the opening Grand Slam of the year, which was marred by rain on day four.
Andreeva, just 16, was in scintillating form to take down 29-year-old three-time major runner-up Jabeur 6-0, 6-2 under the closed roof on Rod Laver Arena in just 54 minutes.
"Probably it was the best match (ever)," said Andreeva, a schoolgirl who burst onto the scene when she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last year as a qualifier.
"The first set, I didn't expect that I would play this good. Second set was also not bad. So, yes, for me it was an amazing match."
Her reward is a third-round clash against either France's Diane Parry or fellow Russian Kamilla Rakhimova.
Timofeeva, a 20-year-old qualifier, was equally impressive against 2018 champion Wozniacki, who flew through the first set and was a break up in the second.
Undeterred, Timofeeva, showing impressive power, hauled herself back into the contest and ultimately prevailed against a player 13 years her senior, winning 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.
"It was an honour to play here against Caroline today. I'm just beyond happy and couldn't ask for more," she said after setting up a third-round meeting with fellow qualifier Russian Alina Korneeva or 10th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Women's champion Aryna Sabalenka made a more serene progress.
Sabalenka made short work of 16-year-old Brenda Fruhvirtova with a 6-3 6-2 in the early evening match on Rod Laver Arena -- a second dominant victory over a qualifier for the Belarusian in her first Grand Slam title defence.
"It's not like these two matches give me confidence," Sabalenka said. "It's tennis. You have to be ready for anything. I'm trying to focus on myself and focus on bringing the best tennis I can."
Brazilian 10th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia later had little trouble in her encounter with a talented teen, easing past a third 16-year-old, Russian Alina Korneeva, 6-1 6-2.
Rain washed out more than three hours of play on the outer courts at the start of the day.
After the rain finally relented, the roof was back open for US Open champion Coco Gauff's second-round clash with fellow American Caroline Dolehide.
Initially, it looked like the women's fourth seed would ease through but Dolehide dragged her into a real scrap and Gauff was forced to fight until her fourth match point to prevail 7-6(2) 6-2.
"It was a tough match. She plays big, pretty much, on every shot," said Gauff. "Not my best tennis, but a lot of improvement to look at for the next matches."
Eeighth seed Maria Sakkari was bounced out 6-4 6-4 by Russian Elina Avanesyan in the final match of the day.