Finalist of the last two editions, the Russian Daniil Medvedev was surprised by the American Sebastian Korda in the third round of the Australian Open, where the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas presented champion credentials and the Polish Iga Swiatek swept the Spanish Cristina Bucsa.
On the track where his father, the Czech Petr Korda, won this Grand Slam in 1998 against the Chilean Marcelo Ríos, the world number 31 defeated 7-6 (9/7), 6-3, 7-6 (7/ 4) to Medvedev and secured the pass to the round of 16 against the Pole Hubert Hurkacz.
With the fall of Medvedev and that of the Spanish Rafael Nadal in the second round, it is the first time since 2006 that neither of the last two finalists of the Open are not in the round of 16.
With a powerful forehand, aggressive tennis and almost two meters tall that made him a wall in the net, Korda clearly surpassed whoever reached the recent former world number 1.
The 22-year-old American took a hard-fought first set in 85 minutes, overwhelmed Medvedev in the second and closed out the final tie-break after several tries.
“An incredible match. I knew what I had to do and I have stuck to it even when emotions went up and down”, said the youngster, junior champion in Australia in 2018.
“It is a special place for us. We have had some very good results. Hopefully I can do something better than the juniors and do it in seniors, ”he said.
The elimination of Medvedev places Tsitsipas, a three-time semifinalist in Melbourne and the top seed after the farewells of defending champion Rafa Nadal and Norwegian Casper Ruud, as the favorite in this part of the draw.
In just over two hours, the robust 24-year-old dispatched Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor (No. 63) 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.
Unbeaten this year and without a set conceded in Melbourne, Tsitsipas will meet the young Italian Jannik Sinner (No. 16) in the round of 16, who needed five sets against the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics.
Although it seems the main threat of the Serbian Novak Djokovic, nine times champion in Australia, the Greek does not want to speculate. “Of course there are favourites. Everybody knows. But my head is not there, ”he assured.
Swiatek unreachable, Fernandez eliminated
Another contender is Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime (No. 7), who displayed his best game in Melbourne to beat Francisco Cerúndolo (No. 29) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. last Argentine alive in the painting.
After two matches with erratic starts, the Canadian trained by Toni Nadal, the uncle of the Spanish champion, quickly took the first set against the man from Buenos Aires.
More aggressive in the rest and dominant with his right, Cerúndolo managed to equalize, but was surpassed by Auger-Aliassime, who will play against the Czech Jiri Lehecka, winner of the British Cameron Norrie.
In the women’s division, on Thursday her compatriot Leylah Fernandez was eliminated at the hands of the French Caroline Garcia 7-6 (7/5), 7-5. The tennis player with an Ecuadorian father had started the Open well.
Having learned the lesson of the bumps from big names such as Nadal, Ruud or the Tunisian Ons Jabeur, the Polish Iga Swiatek began her cross against the Spanish Cristina Bucsa (N. 100) in a steamroller mode.
In just 55 minutes, she endorsed a final 6-0, 6-1 victory over the Spanish, who had just eliminated Canadian Bianca Andreescu, former winner of the US Open.
In the round of 16, the current champion of Roland Garros and the United States Open, who has not yet dropped a set, will face the winner at Wimbledon, the Kazakh Elena Rybakina.
Also expeditious were the Americans Jessica Pegula (N. 3) and Coco Gauff (N. 7), who settled their rounds in two sets and will face the Czech Barbora Krejcikova and the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, respectively, in the round of 16.
The Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, champion in Australia in 2012 and 2013, also passed the round, while the Greek Maria Sakkari fell to an emotional Chinese Zhu Lin.
Off the court, the hangover still lingered from the epic match between Scotsman Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis, a five-hour, 45-minute battle that ended at 04:05 local time, the third late match in history.
men’s doubles
Ecuadorian Gonzalo Escobar and Bosnian Tomislav Brkic defeated Jamie Murray GBR/Michael Venus NZL 7-6(5) 6-4 on the indoor court at Melbourne Park to advance to the third round of the Australian Open. The manabita closed again with his serve. This day is birthday.
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Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
