I World No.4 Stefanos Tsitsipas has made it into the Australian Open third round after a tough battle against Argentina’s Sebastian Baez at the Australian Open, claiming a 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 win.
Tsitsipas hit 12 aces to five, but had to work for his win. He had 18 break-point chances but only took four, really taking until the third set to hit his straps.
“A lot of fighting. A little bit of swearing,” Tsitsipas said about the match in his on-court interview happy that his elbow surgery has not bothered him in Melbourne.
He will play the winner of Grigor Dimitrov and Benoit Paire. Paire leads 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 in that clash on Court 3.
Unfortunately, Melbourne’s favourite tennis showman, Nick Kyrgios went down to world No. 2, Daniil Medvedev, in four sets 7-6 (7-1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 during their second round clash at the Australian Open on Thursday night.
Kyrgios definitely had some good moments, however, Medvedev prevailed with 68 winners, including 31 aces, compared to Kyrgios’ 47 winners and 17 aces, respectively.
Despite this tough result in the second round of his home slam, Kyrgios said he was “incredibly proud” of his performance against the man many expect to hold the trophy aloft now Novak Djokovic is out of contention.
“I gave it everything, I put on a good performance. I think he’s going to be favoured to win the Australian Open. I can’t be too upset,” Kyrgios said after the match.
For his part, Medvedev said he came to “win the match” and he was “happy” he managed to do it. While talking to the press, Medvedev complained about the crowd’s behaviour, cheering on Kyrgios even when he was losing and booing him when he was trying to serve or when he was scoring points.
“Break point, second serve and people are cheering like you already made a double fault. That’s just disappointing,” he said.
“[Jeering] between first and second serve, that’s where, you know, it’s tough,” Medvedev said.
“It’s not good for the game I think to do it, because probably people don’t know, but when you’re getting ready for the second serve, it’s a tough moment.
“I think people should respect both players and just, you know, don’t talk in these moments.”
Kyrgios on the other hand loved the “great atmosphere” even though he asked the umpire to silence the crowd out of respect to his opponent adding later that this kind of behaviour from the crowd doesn’t bother him even if he is the one getting booed.
Kyrgios has been disqualified from the singles but continues to draw crowds in with Thanasi Kokkinakis in the most spectacular joint act.
Kokkinakis’ victory in the Adelaide International final last week saw the local hope claim the first ATP title of his career against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech 6-7 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.
On Wednesday afternoon, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis worked their magic in Court 3 at Melbourne Park – for a first-round 6-4 6-2 doubles victory over fellow Aussie wildcards Alex Bolt and James McCabe.
The duo’s win set a second-round clash against top-seeded Croatians Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic.
Meanwhile, Maria Sakkari’s performances have fans hoping she will win her first Grand Slam title at Melbourne Park.
For the time being, the fifth seed moved closer to the second week by dismissing the promising, yet inexperienced Zheng Qinwen 6-1 6-4 despite a late scare at Margaret Court Arena on Wednesday night.
Sakkari plays against 28th seed Veronika Kudermetova at 1pm today.