22 Jan 2011

Top seeds sent packing

5:31 pm on 22 January 2011

The Canadian qualifier Milos Raonic pulled off the biggest men's upset so far at the Australian tennis Open, eliminating Russian 10th seed Mikhail Youzhny.

Raonic eliminated Youzhny in four sets to book a fourth-round date with Spanish seventh seed David Ferrer before Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov pulled off his own upset by ousting the 13th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in five sets.

Youzhny is the first top-10 seed to crash out at Melbourne Park as the big guns continue to cruise through the first week.

In more predictable results the fourth seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden progressed to the next round along with British hope Andy Murray.

In the women's draw the world tennis number two Vera Zvonareva looms as a real threat at the Australian Open after a tough 6-3, 7-6 win over Lucie Safarova in the third round.