Top seeds advance at Adelaide International

CANBERRA -- All the top seeds return to action at the Adelaide International on Thursday, with men's top seed Tommy Paul playing Jack Draper and Elena Rybakina facing Ekaterina Alexandrova on center court in the night session.

On show court one women's second seed Jessica Pegula will match up against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and Nicolas Jarry, seeded 2nd in the men's draw, will play against seventh seed Jiri Lehecka in the quarterfinals.

Rybakina, the world number three, on Wednesday night beat Spain's Cristina Bucsa 6-3, 7-5 at the Memorial Drive Tennis Centre in the South Australian capital to continue her great run of form in the lead-up to the 2024 Australian Open, which starts on Sunday, after winning the Brisbane International earlier in January.

The 24-year-old Rybakina, who was beaten in the final of the Australian Open in 2023, said after the match that she was pleased with her response to Bucsa's surprising tactics.

"I didn't start that quick with the movement and everything, but I think she played really well, especially coming forward, which you don't see much in women's tennis. It was a bit surprising for me, but yeah, happy that I managed to win," she said on court.

Earlier on center court, world number 12 Paul beat Australian qualifier Alex Bolt 6-3, 6-2 in 69 minutes in his first match of 2024.

Paul hit 25 winners and won 78 percent of his service points in a dominant display.

"I was happy to get out there and play some good tennis. I was a little nervous going into the match," he said.

Jarry and Pegula also advanced to the quarterfinals on Wednesday but with more difficulty than the top seeds.

Jarry edged past Matteo Arnaldi 6-7 (5), 7-6 (7), 6-4 while Pegula also dropped the first set before beating fellow American Bernarda Pera 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.