Azarenka tops Wozniacki; Isner, Johnson, 7 total U.S. women advance

MELBOURNE -- Catch up on all of the action from the Australian Open on Thursday that you may have missed while you were sleeping, and be sure to check out

Courtney Nguyen | Jan 22, 2015

Azarenka tops Wozniacki; Isner, Johnson, 7 total U.S. women advance /

MELBOURNE -- Catch up on all of the action from the Australian Open on Thursday that you may have missed while you were sleeping, and be sure to check out Friday's schedule and best matches to watch.

Vintage Vika upsets Caroline Wozniacki

Welcome back, Victoria Azarenka. The two-time Australian Open champion showed her vintage form to upset No. 8 Wozniacki 6-4, 6-2 and earn her biggest win in over a year. Despite the scoreline, the match was a high-quality affair, with Azarenka striking 31 winners and 28 unforced errors to Wozniacki's 18 winners and 20 unforced errors. Azarenka, down to No. 44 after an injury-addled season, was able to impose her percussive baseline hitting to pin Wozniacki behind the baseline and on the run.

Venus Williams is thriving in the midst of a career upswing at 34-years-old

The loss is a brutal one for the Dane. She ended the 2014 season on such a positive note, showing improved aggression and power to beat Maria Sharapova twice in two months and to push Serena Williams to tough three-setter at the WTA Finals. But against her friend on Thursday evening, Wozniacki was far too passive.

So...at what point do we start looking ahead to an Azarenka-Serena quarterfinal?

Agnieszka Radwanska, Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic baked bagels on RLA

Radwanska joked that new coach Martina Navratilova told her to make it quick because of her TV commentary duties and she obliged. The Pole needed just 44 minutes to beat Johanna Larsson 6-0, 6-1. Serena followed her by coming back from 3-5 down, saving set points and winning the last 10 games of her match to beat Vera Zvonareva 7-5, 6-0. Djokovic made it 19 consecutive games won by the No. 1 seeds of the tournament after he raced to a 6-0, 3-0 lead on Andrey Kuznetsov to win 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 in 84 minutes. It was a short day on Rod Laver Arena.

Seven American women now into the third round

Federer outlasts bee sting, Kyrgios upsets Karlovic; more Day 3 results

Venus Williams, Madison Keys, Varvara Lepchenko, Madison Brengle and CoCo Vandeweghe followed Serena into the third round, making it a grand total of six American women into the third round. Venus brushed aside Lauren Davis in straight sets and will play Camila Giorgi next. Keys knocked off No. 29 Casey Dellacqua 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 to earn a third round bout with No. 4 Petra Kvitova. No. 30 Lepchenko defeated Ajla Tomljanovic in straight sets and will play Radwanska. And Brengle, a surprise story in Melbourne, beat fellow American Irina Falconi in straight sets and will play another country-woman, Vandeweghe, in the next round after she put on a top-notch performance to knock out No. 20 Sam Stosur 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday night.

John Isner and Steve Johnson advance

19th-seeded Isner took care of Andreas Haider-Maurer in four sets and will play No. 42 Gilles Muller in the third round. Muller upset No. 13 seed Roberto Bautista Agut. If Isner can get the win he'll likely face Djokovic in the fourth round.

No. 38 Johnson scored the mild upset over No. 30 seed Santiago Giraldo 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to a third round of a major for the second time in his career. The win earns him a shot at No. 5 Kei Nishikori, who needed four sets to beat Ivan Dodig.

Jerzy Janowicz knocks out No. 17 Gael Monfils

There would be no fifth-set heroics for Monfils today. Janowicz rallied from two-sets to one down to win 6-4, 1-6, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3. Janowicz has been up and down through his first two rounds but the win over Monfils showed his composure and could set up a deep run in Melbourne. He plays No. 12 Feliciano Lopez next and then could face No. 8 Milos Raonic in the fourth round.

Photo of the day: He Said

Photo of the day: She Said

Video of the day

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm4Vt1lRfmI]

Quote of the day

Wozniacki: "A loss is a loss. All losses suck. It doesn't feel fun to be here right now. I would rather completely suck and play terrible and win than play wonderfully and lose. I'm a competitor. It hurts to lose."

Tweets of the day

[tweet=https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/558202117245001728]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/ESPNTennis/status/558137882909892609]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/558169229719896065]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/alex_willis/status/558159164594069505]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/TomPerrotta/status/558093735343697920]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/558196978673152000]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/stu_fraser/status/558162574282596352]

AusOpen Day 5 matches to watch: Will Bouchard face her first test?

Published Jan 22, 2015

COURTNEY NGUYEN

Contributor, SI.com Nguyen is a freelance writer for SI.com, providing full coverage of professional tennis both on and off the court. Her content has become a must-read for fans and insiders to stay up-to-date with a sport that rarely rests. She has appeared on radio and TV talk shows all over the world and is one of the co-hosts of No Challenges Remaining, a weekly podcast available on iTunes. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and received a law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2002. She lives in the Bay Area.