Zverev and Ruud almost finished their performance
The match day proved difficult for Germany’s Alexander Zverev and Norway’s Casper Ruud. Both should have confidently entered the third round of the Grand Slam tournament, but in reality they had to give their best.
Zverev fought for more than four and a half hours with Slovenia’s Lukas Klein, who is ranked 163rd in the world rankings. Everything was finally decided in a tie-break, as they say, on the lean. The final score is 7:5, 3:6, 4:6, 7:6 (7:5), 7:6 (10:7).
Similarly, events unfolded in the match between Australian Max Purcell and Ruud. World number 45 Purcell put world number 11 Ruud to a real test. Here too, a tiebreaker was played in the deciding set. The final score is 6:3, 6:7 (5:7), 6:3, 3:6, 7:6 (10:7).
And if in these matches everything ended with a happy ending for the favorites, then the Dane Holger Rune was not so lucky. He managed to lose to the French world 122 racket Arthur Cazeau, with a score of 6:7 (4:7), 4:6, 6:4, 3:6.
Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz also fiddled a bit. The second racket in the world fought with the Italian Lorenzo Sonego. The match lasted 3 hours 30 minutes and ended with a score of 6:4, 6:7 (3:7), 6:3, 7:6 (7:3).
Medvedev panicked, but withdrew the game
Daniil Medvedev delivered a real thriller with a happy ending. The 3rd racket in the world and one of the favorites for the Australian Open almost sheathed her racket in the 2nd round. Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori won the first two sets, then came close to sending Daniil home in the fourth game. But the Russian won in the tie-break, then managed to grab the steering wheel from the inflexible Finn! The rivals finished their match at 3:40 a.m. Melbourne time.
Throughout the match, Daniil was pretty freaked out, throwing his racket and arguing with his own box. But at the decisive moment, Medvedev managed to pull himself together.
Athletistic broadcast this incredible fight live.
Next comes a test from the Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime. The main thing is to recover after such an incredible fight.
Blinkova became a history maker
Anna Blinkova delivered an equally astonishing match. The Russian world number 57 managed to stop world number 3 Elena Rybakina, representing Kazakhstan. Moreover, everything was decided during a tie-break, which lasted more than half an hour! The final score speaks for itself – 6:4, 4:6, 7:6 (22:20).
This tiebreaker went down in history as the longest in women’s singles at a Grand Slam tournament.
“There were negative thoughts, especially after her match points, when she was serving for the match. I thought: what if she served well, if she played well on the first serve, then that was it, it was over.
I tried to put these thoughts aside. I told myself: cut the trajectory, accelerate with the moving hand. She reiterated that we had to play safe all the time, run around and get the ball down the field. I was in a hurry on my match points. The hand was trembling. I tried to be aggressive, but I made a lot of mistakes,” Blinkova said after the match.
Anna Kalinskaya also went further. The Russian confidently beat the Dutchwoman Arantha Rus (6:1, 7:5).
And Daria Kasatkina, unfortunately, disappointed. The 13th racket in the world lost to American Sloane Stephens with a score of 6:4, 3:6, 3:6. It’s a shame that Dasha still can’t be in top shape for the most important matches of the season.
Anton Mozgovoy, Athletistic
Source: Sport
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
