Tennis player Laura Siegemund has reached the third round at the Australian Open.

The 34-year-old won her match against number 27 seeded Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 on Thursday.

Siegemund made it into the third round of the Grand Slam tournament at Melbourne Park for the first time since her debut in 2016.

The four other German starters had already failed at the opening hurdle.

The next opponents waiting for Siegemund are Caroline Garcia from France, who is number four, or Leylah Fernandez from Canada.

Siegemund got off to a good start and was a break ahead, but still had to give up the first set.

In the equally balanced second round, the Metzingerin kept her nerves this time.

In the third set, she also benefited from an apparent foot injury from her opponent.

Due to the wind, conditions on the uncovered 8th pitch at Melbourne Park were difficult.

Ruud fails

In the men's game, Norway's tennis star Casper Ruud surprisingly failed in the second round.

Last year's finalist of the US Open and French Open was beaten by the American Jenson Brooksby 3: 6, 5: 7, 7: 6 (7: 4), 2: 6 on Thursday.

After the top seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who lost in the second round on Wednesday, the number two of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year was eliminated.

Nadal expects six to eight weeks of downtime following his injury.

The 36-year-old announced this in a statement on social media on Thursday.

The MRI scan revealed second-degree damage to the iliopsoas muscle, the main muscle involved in hip flexion in the groin, in his left leg.

Now the time for "sports rest and anti-inflammatory physiotherapy" has come, Nadal wrote.

Immediately after his three-set loss to USA's Mackenzie McDonald on Wednesday when he injured himself on a long stride, Nadal had left his future open.

It is "tiring and frustrating" that "a large part" of his career consists of fighting back from injuries.

He must avoid a longer break because of the current hip injury, "because if not," said the 22-time Grand Slam tournament winner, "it will be difficult".