Day four at the Australian Open saw the conclusion of the second round on the men’s side, with Daniil Medvedev vs Nick Kyrgios the blockbuster match of the day. None of the top seeds were upset, but there were still some surprising results and some very exciting matches. Here’s a recap of everything you might have missed:
Australian Open Men’s Day Four Recap
Who looked good
Medvedev had what looked like a tricky match against Kyrgios and so it proved, with Kyrgios’s huge serve causing the Russian problems throughout. It could easily have gone the distance, but the Russian was clutch when it mattered and got home in four sets against a dangerous opponent and a hostile crowd. After passing this test, Medvedev’s confidence in his chances of winning a first Australian Open title will surely be even higher.
Jannik Sinner, meanwhile, eased into the third round with a dominant win over Steve Johnson; he wasn’t broken all match and in fact faced only one break point, while breaking the American time and again. It was a very commanding performance from the young Italian, who looks set for a big tournament and a big season. With his draw looking favourable, he’s a clear favorite to reach at least the quarterfinals here in Melbourne.
Taylor Fritz is quietly continuing his progress through the draw and has notched another third-round appearance at a Major with a relatively routine victory over his countryman Frances Tiafoe. He was in complete control the entire match and never looked threatened. He does have a 1-5 head-to-head against Roberto Bautista Agut, his next opponent, but on form he looks to be in with a good chance to turn the trend of their rivalry around.
Who looked bad
Andy Murray’s loss was the big surprise of the day, especially the manner in which it happened as he crashed in three sets against an opponent who, at least in theory, didn’t have many weapons to threaten him in Taro Daniel. After all the recent encouraging signs, with a final showing in Sydney and an epic five-set win here in the first round, the result and performance will certainly come as a big blow to the Scot though fatigue may well have been a factor.
Another star name who lost in surprisingly routine fashion was Diego Schwartzman who fell to Christopher O’Connell. The Australian played really well, showing plenty of skill and variety to the delight of the home crowd, but it’s still a highly disappointing result for Schwartzman, who had a very good draw and hopes of going deep into the second week at Melbourne Park. Grigor Dimitrov has had some of his best performances and results in Australia but it wasn’t to be this time. After a lackluster first-round performance, he remained inconsistent in his second outing at the Australian Open up against Benoit Paire and the mercurial Frenchman edged him out in the decisive tiebreaks to beat him in four sets and advance to the third round.
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