Less than 48 hours after his five-set epic first round match finished after 2am local time, Aussie Alexei Popyrin is back on court and hunting another monster boilover at the Australian Open.
Popyrin lost the first set in a tiebreak against American eighth seed Taylor Fritz, but won the second set in a dominant tiebreak, winning the first five points in a row.
“Talk about standing up when you need it most,” Lleyton Hewitt said on Nine’s coverage.
The 23-year-old Aussie then claimed the first break of the match early in the third set in front of a roaring crowd at John Cain Arena. Indeed, the Australian had not even faced a break point at that stage of the match.
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Later, a pair of Aussie stars are eyeing third-round berths on night four at the Australian Open, with Thanasi Kokkinakis and Alex de Minaur both in action.
De Minaur, the No. 22 seed, is favoured to reach the last 32 – which he’s done in his last three appearances at Melbourne Park – as he takes on France’s Adrian Mannarino.
The heat and rain-forced delays over the last three days actually help de Minaur, as he is fully rested following a simple first-round win. In contrast Mannarino only finished his first-up match against John Isner on Wednesday.
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Kokkinakis also has a slight advantage over his opponent, ex-world No. 1 Andy Murray, when it comes to exhaustion.
The South Australian, who has never made it past the second round of his home slam, finished his match yesterday against Fabio Fognini – but only needed to play six points.
In contrast, while Murray finished his match on Tuesday, it was a five-set epic over Matteo Berrettini that lasted nearly five hours, pushing the man with the metal hip to his physical limit.
Standing ovation for defeated Rafa | 01:12
TOP CONTENDERS IN ACTION ON CENTRE COURT
On Rod Laver Arena all eyes will be on clear tournament favourite Novak Djokovic.
The world No. 4 didn’t have it all his own way in his first-round win over Roberto Carballes Baena, with the exception of a brutal third-set where the Serb didn’t drop a game.
Now he has a clear edge over French qualifier Enzo Couacaud, who won his first-round match on Wednesday evening – and a day’s less rest won’t exactly help you against the uber-athletic Djokovic.
After the men’s match, world No. 2 Ons Jabeur will be on upset alert against Czech Marketa Vondrousova, who is more credentialed than her unseeded status would suggest.
Vondrousova reached the 2019 French Open final, becoming the first teenage slam finalist since Caroline Wozniacki, losing to Ash Barty. She is a former world No. 14.
Dark horse women’s contender Belinda Bencic is also in action against America’s Claire Liu.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN DAY 4 ORDER OF PLAY (All times AEDT)
Night session from 7pm
Rod Laver Arena
Enzo Couacaud (FRA) v [4] Novak Djokovic (SRB)
Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) v [2] Ons Jabeur (TUN)
Margaret Court Arena
Claire Liu (USA) v [12] Belinda Bencic (SUI)
Andy Murray (GBR) v Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS)
John Cain Arena
Adrian Mannarino (FRA) v [22] Alex de Minaur (AUS)
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