Jenson Brooksby blew another huge hole in the Australian Open draw by sending second seed Casper Ruud tumbling out in the second round on Thursday, a day after his fellow-American Mackenzie McDonald had ushered Rafael Nadal to the exit.

While top seed Nadal was hampered by injury in his loss, Norwegian Ruud was simply outplayed for all but a few games of his 6-3, 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-2 loss to the 22-year-old Californian over nearly four hours on Rod Laver Arena.

Women’s second seed Ons Jabeur crashed out of the second round of the Australian Open after an error-strewn display in a 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 loss to former French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova on Thursday.

The Tunisian, who stormed up the rankings last year after runs to the final at Wimbledon and the US Open, sprayed 50 unforced errors and had her serve broken eight times in the 102-minute contest.

Murray’s epic win

Former world No.1 Andy Murray produced one of his greatest ever comebacks to sink home hope Thanasi Kokkinakis in a titanic second-round thriller.

The 35-year-old Scot looked down and out against an inspired Kokkinakis as he trailed by two sets and 2-5 but displayed his trademark warrior spirit to somehow claw out a 4-6, 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-3, 7-5 victory after five hours and 45 minutes.

When Murray finally got the job done in what was his 250th grand slam match, the clock was just past 4.05am local time.

Novak prevails

Novak Djokovic had to dig deep at times against French qualifier Enzo Couacaud but rolled into the third round with a 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-0 win to continue his quest for a 10th Australian Open crown and a 22nd grand slam title.

Novak looked at his imperious best as he eased through the opening set but hit a roadblock in the 74-minute second when world No. 191 Couacaud upped his pace and intensity to level up the contest in a tiebreak.

Fourth seed Djokovic changed his shirt and brought in the heavy artillery to whip through the final two sets, setting up a third-round date with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.

It could turn out that Djokovic’s left thigh, again heavily strapped against a hamstring niggle, will be the biggest obstacle to him landing yet another Australian Open title.

Zverev upset

Brooksby’s win was followed by lucky loser Michael Mmoh stunning German former world number two Alexander Zverev 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to make it eight American men in the third round.

Andrey Rublev continued to carve his way through the draw with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-3 win over Emil Ruusuvuori. He will next face Briton Dan Evans, who beat Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-4, 6-1.

Ignoring hype

Belinda Bencic’s form in the build-up to the year’s first grand slam has led to talk of a potential title charge, but the Olympic champion said she is ignoring the hype after claiming a 7-6(3), 6-3 win over American Claire Liu. Bencic entered the tournament on the back of winning her seventh career title, after beating Daria Kasatkina in the final of the Adelaide tune-up meet.

Katie Volynets stunned ninth seed Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to become the first US qualifier to reach the women’s third round since Lindsay Davenport in 1993. Shelby Rogers, however, was no match for Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, who power ed past the American 6-3, 6-1.

Nadal injury

World No.2 Rafael Nadal will be sidelined for six to eight weeks by the hip flexor injury he suffered during his second-round loss, the Spaniard’s team said on Thursday.