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In an enthralling semifinal against Alexander Zverev featuring a rain interruption, a lighting failure and a plenty of drama besides, the fifth seeded Austrian shrugged off a sluggish start and was braver on the big points.
Babos and Mladenovic won their second Australian Open women's doubles crown in three years, beating top seeds Hsieh Su-Wei and Barbora Strycova 6-2, 6-1.
The 32-year-old Sharapova was clearly still hampered by the shoulder injury that had restricted her to one previous competitive outing since her opening-round exit at last year's US Open.
Prajnesh, who had entered the main draw of the men's singles event as a lucky loser in the qualifiers, fought for two hours as rain played spoilsport before he went down 4-6, 2-6, 5-7 to Japan's Tatsuma Ito.
Sania and her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok were trailing 2-6, 0-1 against the Chinese duo of Xinyun Han and Lin Zhu when the Indian called it quits.
The 15-year-old American sensation, 24 years Venus' junior and the youngest player in the draw, eased to a 7-6(5), 6-3 win in the clash of generations at Margaret Court Arena, her first main draw appearance as a direct Grand Slam qualifier.
The world's top players have assembled for the ATP Cup and are using the event to prepare for the year's first Grand Slam, which starts in Melbourne from January 20.
After recent bushfire smog largely cleared in Melbourne, the view is all too familiar with Djokovic and Serena, who is seeking a record-equalling 24th Major title, installed as the bookies' favourites.
Parents normally tell their teenagers to watch their language, but Coco Gauff turned the tables on her father during her second round clash with Laura Siegemund at the Auckland Classic.
Australian Kyrgios was a match for the 19-time Grand Slam champion in the second and for most of the third set but the muscle-bound Spaniard always looked like the most likely winner once he got his nose back in front.
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