The return to the world before was short-lived.
After five days of competition and some good slices of life in the stands (there were still 22,299 fans this Friday), the city of Melbourne has been reconfigured after the appearance of new cases of the British variant of Covid-19.
As a result, the spectators were forced by the referee to leave the site before the end of the night session and the event will now be held behind closed doors at least until next Wednesday.
One more twist in a roller coaster-like tournament ...
❌ Surreal scene in Melbourne where the referee of the match between Djokovic and Fritz asks the public to leave the Rod Laver Arena due to the local confinement which begins at midnight!
#AusOpen #HomeOfTennis pic.twitter.com/Ufkp2XjaEk
- Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) February 12, 2021
The match: Thiem - Kyrgios
Before showering the enthusiasm and sending everyone back to confinement, there had to be a fiery encounter.
In an atmosphere worthy of the Davis Cup (well, that of the world before), Dominic Thiem managed to overthrow Nick Kyrgios, the regional of the stage.
Winner of Ugo Humbert in the previous round after saving two match points, the Australian nevertheless led two sets to nothing before surrendering (4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6- 4).
"Giving up is not an option, there is always a chance", slipped the world n ° 3, impressive in composure despite the storm of cries and encouragement.
❌ Surreal scene in Melbourne where the referee of the match between Djokovic and Fritz asks the public to leave the Rod Laver Arena due to the local confinement which begins at midnight!
#AusOpen #HomeOfTennis pic.twitter.com/Ufkp2XjaEk
- Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) February 12, 2021
The star: Novak Djokovic
The world n ° 1 had some scares in his quest for an 18th Grand Slam.
The Serbian was leading two sets to nothing against the American Fritz before an untimely slip and abdominal pain… As a result, Fritz managed to pick up two sets everywhere when the stadium had just been emptied to respect the confinement!
Djokovic claims to have thought of retirement (which would have been his… 15th on the circuit) at the start of the third set.
In the last round, the eight-time winner of the Australian Open seemed to forget his discomfort on the obliques and suddenly found service, forehand, calm and precision to easily finish the job (7-6, 6-4, 3 -6, 4-6, 6-2 in 3h30) before uttering a primal cry that tore the sky of Victoria ...
“It will remain one of the most special victories of my career,” he says.
I tried to stay focused by praying that it would get better.
I know it's a tear.
»See you in the round of 16 against Raonic.
Hopefully by then ...
The French: Mannarino and Ferro out
Tournament ended for Adrian Mannarino, largely dominated by Zverev (6-3, 6-3, 6-1) and Fiona Ferro, beaten by the Polish Swiatek (6-4, 6-3), winner of the last Roland Garros.
There is therefore no longer any Habs for the boys, as in the last US Open and the only Kristina Mladenovic (who will face the American Pegula next night in the 3rd round) for the girls.
For the two failures of the day, the main concern was to manage the return ...
“It was a little hammer blow
(Editor's note: the announcement of confinement)
, explains Mannarino.
Basically, my plan was to go play in Singapore the week after Melbourne, I told myself that I was going to enjoy the good weather in Australia, to be able to prepare myself well before going to Singapore.
Obviously, that will not be the case and today, we learned that for Singapore, the conditions were quite specific.
If we are in contact or positive for Covid, we are stranded in a hospital for twenty-two days!
"
When you don't know what to write, draw a cat instead 😹 @ iga_swiatek |
# AO2021 |
#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/lBscrOlTJy
- #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 12, 2021
The perf: Aslan Karatsev
Nothing stops Aslan Karatsev.
Resulting from the qualifications, the world n ° 114 offered without trembling in the 3rd round Diego Schwartzman, n ° 9 at the ATP (6-3, 6-3, 6-3)!
At 27, Karatsev played for the first time in the final table of a Grand Slam and set off to discover a top 10 on the other side of the net.
First attempt, master stroke.
😨 Karatsev impresses and leaves Schwartzman in 3 sets!
The Russian, 114th in the world, wins against the No. 8 seed and qualifies for the round of 16!
The Australian Open can be seen in full on Eurosport and https://t.co/XcZuM6O9AA #AusOpen #HomeOfTennis pic.twitter.com/EUAHwmGyWz
- Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) February 12, 2021
Faced with an unrecognizable Argentinian and very weak in return, the Muscovite has multiplied the winning blows.
In the next round, he will challenge Félix Auger-Aliassime, the easy winner (7-5, 7-5, 6-3) of the Canada derby against his friend Denis Shapovalov.
