The Australian Open
tennis tournament offered a day with several surprises this Thursday
.
Several high seeds, such as the Danish
Holger Rune
, the Kazakh
Elena Rybakina
and the American
Jessica Pegula
, said goodbye prematurely to the first Grand Slam of the season.
On the other hand, the Spanish
Carlos Alcaraz
was able to settle in the third round of the contest that is played on hard courts at Melbourne Park and distributes 56.7 million dollars in prizes
Those who attended the opening of the night session at the Margaret Court stadium saw Rune, eighth in the ATP rankings, capitulate, who fell 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 4-6 and 6-3 against the Frenchman
Arthur Cazaux
, 122nd in the ranking and invited to the competition, in a second round duel that lasted three hours and 22 minutes.
“It was a crazy match, a great fight.
I have known him for a long time, I knew it was going to be a tough battle and I was ready for that,” said the 21-year-old Frenchman after achieving only his third victory in an ATP match.
A varied repertoire of shots and a very solid serve (he won 82% of the points he played with his first serve) allowed him to advance to the third round, in which he will face the Dutch Tallon Griekspoor (28th), who beat to also Frenchman Arthur Fils by 3-6.
6-1, 7-5 and 6-4.
In just his THIRD-EVER tour level win, @ArthurCazaux takes down Holger Rune!
And just you wait to see the shot that won it...#AusOpen • @wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis pic.twitter.com/4BpMHWX5Vk
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2024
Russian
Daniil Medvedev
, third seed in the tournament, also saw the abyss up close, but after dancing on the ledge he ended up winning 3-6, 6-7 (1-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7- 1) and 6-0 over the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori (53rd) in a match that lasted four hours and 23 minutes and that kept the public in suspense at the Rod Laver Stadium until well into the Australian dawn: when the loser's last setback He traveled behind the baseline, the clock read 3:39.
After a start in which the 24-year-old Scandinavian showed a surprising repertoire, the Muscovite, a finalist in Melbourne in 2021 and 2022, found his way back to the game, overcame the difficulties and, with an arsenal of 51 winners and 23 aces, ended up sweeping in the last round an opponent who had needed medical attention for a discomfort in his left shoulder when he lost 3-0 in that episode.
Russian Daniil Medvedev overcame a two-set deficit to beat Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori in Melbourne.
Photo: Eloisa Lopez / Reuters.
Alexander Zverev
(6th) and
Casper Ruud
(11th)
also had to work hard to advance .
The German needed four hours and 31 minutes of work to defeat the Slovakian Lukas Klein (163rd) 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) and 7-6 (10-7). , who had crossed the qualy to access the main draw.
“I would have preferred to win in an hour and a half, but he played incredible and probably deserved to win more than me,” acknowledged Zverev, who will face Alex Michelsen (91st), one of the great promises of American tennis, in the third round.
For his part, Ruud won a close match against local Max Purcell 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 3-6 and 7-6 (10-7) after three hours and 50 minutes of work and, in this way, improved his record from the last edition, in which he had lost in the second round against the American Jason Brooksby.
His opponent in the next instance will be the British Cameron Norrie (22nd), who also needed five sets to beat the Italian Giulio Zeppieri (133rd).
Only a little less tight was the victory of the second seed in the tournament, the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, who beat the Italian Lorenzo 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3 and 7-6 (7-3). Sonego (46th) in three hours and 25 minutes of play.
With his advance to the third round, the Murcian already equaled his best performance in Melbourne, since in 2021 he fell in the second round, in 2022 he was eliminated in the third and in 2023 he was absent due to a muscle injury.
WE ARE NOT WORTHY 🤯@carlosalcaraz • @wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis pic.twitter.com/1EiXnkU8Kj
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2024
“I think we both played at a high level, with a lot of intensity.
We put on a show, we made good points.
“It was a great game,” said the 20-year-old Spaniard, who said that before each presentation he was energized by listening to the songs from the
Rocky
saga movies , starring Sylvester Stallone.
“I am a big fan of Rocky Balboa and the songs take me to the training sessions that the movies have.
Listening to them helps me motivate myself a lot before the games,” he explained.
Alcaraz's next opponent will be the surprising Chinese
Juncheng Shang
, 18 years old, 140th in the ecumenical ranking and invited by the tournament organization, who in his second round match beat the Indian Sumit Nagal (137th) by 2- 6, 6-3, 7-5 and 6-4.
“I'm going to have to be very focused because from what I've seen of him so far, he has seemed like an impressive player,” the Iberian warned.
Women were not left out of this complicated day for favorites.
The opening of the afternoon session also offered a surprise at the Rod Laver Stadium, where the Russian
Anna Blinkova
, 57th in the WTA rankings, dispatched 6-4, 4-6 and 7-6 (22-20) to the third seed in the competition, the Kazakh Elena Rybakina, in a vibrant match that ended after two hours and 46 minutes of action.
ANNA.
BLINKOVA.
The moment Anna prevailed in a match etched into Grand Slam history.#AusOpen • #AO2024 • @wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis pic.twitter.com/JTUTc9YR9p
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2024
In a cinematic tie break, the 25-year-old Muscovite closed the duel in her 10th chance to do so and after having raised six match points.
"It was very hard.
I just tried to stay calm, stay focused on each point and be aggressive, but my hand was shaking and so were my legs.
“This is the most beautiful day of my life, I will never forget it,” said the winner, who in the next phase will face the Italian Jasmine Paolini (31st).
Much more expeditious was the triumph of the Frenchwoman
Clara Burel
(51st), who beat the American Jessica Pegula, fifth in the WTA ranking, 6-4 and 6-2 in just 70 minutes.
“I had a very solid performance, I was very focused and I didn't let her enter the match,” boasted the player born 22 years ago in Rennes after achieving her first victory against a top-10 team.
Her next opponent will be her compatriot Oceane Dodin (95th).
On the verge of defeat was the top favorite of the tournament, the Polish
Iga Swiatek
, who after being 4-1 down in the third set ended up emerging from the darkness to win five consecutive games and thus beat 6-4, 3-6 and 6-4 to the American Danielle Collins (62nd), 30 years old, who after this setback announced that this will be her last season as a professional.
JAZDA 🔥@iga_swiatek wins 5️⃣ straight games against Collins for an incredible 6-4 3-6 6-4 comeback!#AusOpen • #AO2024 pic.twitter.com/NE3jnqk6eO
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2024
“Honestly, I was already at the airport,” a relieved Swiatek admitted after the game.
“She played perfect, but it was difficult for anyone to maintain that level, so she wanted to be prepared for when mistakes came from the other side,” she added.
In search of her first title in Australia, the number one and quadruple Grand Slam champion will face the Czech Linda Noskova (50th) in the third round.