Day two of the Australian Open saw the surprises keep coming, as more top players made early exits from the tournament.
Arthur Fery’s win over Flavio Cobolli was the big story on day one, but the upsets carried into Monday’s action.
Emma Navarro lost to Magda Linette, while Arthur Gea shocked Jiri Lehecka, even though there are 145 places between them in the ATP Tour rankings. The Frenchman remains in pursuit of his maiden ATP title, having reached his first-ever quarter-final at a senior level just last year.
Botic van de Zandschulp also got past Brandon Nakashima, whose struggles continued with another early defeat. Elsewhere, Alison Van Uytvanck overcame Clara Tauson.
Brandon Nakashima’s rough history at the Australian Open adds another chapter
Nakashima entered the tournament on a high, coming off a runner-up finish at the Brisbane International and holding a World No. 29 ranking that earned him a seeded spot.
Still, even with those credentials, he couldn’t shake his struggles in Melbourne. The defeat to van de Zandschulp marked his eighth consecutive loss at the Australian Open.
Nakashima has yet to win a match at this event, either in the main draw or during qualifying.
His qualifying losses came against Aslan Karatsev in 2021 and Jakub Mensik in 2024.
In first-round matches, Nakashima lost to Berrettini in 2022, McDonald in 2023, Shelton in 2024 and now van de Zandschulp in 2025.
He will have to wait another year before getting another chance to turn around what is quickly becoming one of the most unexpected records on tour.
Seeds already out of the Australian Open in 2025
There have been five seeds who have fallen in the men’s draw after just two days at the Australian Open, with Félix Auger-Aliassime’s withdrawal the biggest surprise so far.
The Canadian was unable to play against Nuno Borges after suffering from leg cramping, a frustrating way for a player ranked as high as number seven in the world to start his tournament.
Lehecka, Cobolli, Arthur Rinderknech, and Nakashima also lost their opening matches and are now out of the event.
There were also five seeds who fell from the women’s draw. Ekaterina Alexandrova was the highest seed to exit early, but she wasn’t alone.
Navarro, Marta Kostyuk, Dayana Yastremska and former champion Sofia Kenin all exited in round one as well.
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