More success means more matches, and that doesn’t always make things easy. Just ask Aslan Karatsev.
The 18th seed had treatment on his leg after three games but was able to summon enough energy to battle past American Mackenzie McDonald 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 Wednesday night in the second round of the ...  

More success means more matches, and that doesn’t always make things easy. Just ask Aslan Karatsev.
The 18th seed had treatment on his leg after three games but was able to summon enough energy to battle past American Mackenzie McDonald 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 Wednesday night in the second round of the Australian Open.
There were just 48 hours between the Russian’s victory over Andy Murray in the Sydney Tennis Classic final and his four-hour, 52 minute first-round epic in Melbourne with Jaume Munar on Monday. All the time spent on court appeared to be catching up with him early against McDonald, as he went 3-0 down early in the first set and immediately called for the physio.
World No. 55 McDonald saw out the first set but whatever had bothered the Russian early on seemed to fade away as his powerful baseline game came to the fore and he eased to victory in two hours and 33 minutes on Kia Arena.
It was the first meeting between two players who both made a name for themselves in Melbourne a year ago: Karatsev stunned Diego Schwartzman, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Grigor Dimitrov on his way to the semi-finals (l. to Djokovic), while McDonald made the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time before losing to Daniil Medvedev.
Karatsev has made sustained progress since that run in Melbourne, culminating last week with his third tour-level title in Sydney. A key factor in this success has been his ability to hit clean winners, and he led comfortably in this category once again against McDonald, hitting 43 compared to his opponent’s 19.
After his bright start the American struggled on serve, with Karatsev breaking seven times on his way to victory. The Russian established early leads in the second and third sets and never looked back. Although breaks were exchanged early in the fourth, Karatsev crunched a forehand for another break at 4-2 that was ultimately enough to see him through.
The next test for Karatsev is another player he has never faced before, Frenchman Adrian Mannarino. The World No. 69 set the third-round clash by shocking 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 earlier on Wednesday.
  

Alexander Zverev showed his rivals he means business at the Australian Open as he produced an efficient performance Wednesday, downing Australian John Millman 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 to reach the third round in Melbourne.
The reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion was strong on serve throughout his one-hour, 59-m...  

Alexander Zverev showed his rivals he means business at the Australian Open as he produced an efficient performance Wednesday, downing Australian John Millman 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 to reach the third round in Melbourne.
The reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion was strong on serve throughout his one-hour, 59-minute victory, firing 14 aces and winning 85 per cent (47/55) of points behind his first delievery against a resilient Millman, who was backed by a vocal crowd on Rod Laver Arena.
The German, who has yet to drop a set in Melbourne, found his range as the match went on, committing seven unforced errors in the third set compared to 15 in the opener. Zverev will next face Radu Albot after the World No. 124 downed Australian wild card Aleksandar Vukic 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-4.
With his victory, the World No. 3 has extended his perfect 9-0 record against players at their home Grand Slams. The 19-time tour-level champion defeated Australian Alex Bolt in the third round in Melbourne in 2019.
Zverev now leads Millman 3-0 in their ATPHead2Head series and has advanced to the third round six years in a row. The 24-year-old’s best result at the first major of the year came in 2020 when he reached the semi-finals.

In a lively start, three breaks were exchanged, with two going Zverev’s way. The German’s timing was slightly off in the opening set from the baseline as he committed 15 unforced errors to 14 winners. However, he kept Millman at bay to move ahead after 47 minutes.
The German was then made to work hard in the second set, saving two break points at 3-2, 15/40, with two big first serves to hold. Millman won one more point (27-26) than Zverev in the set, but the World No. 3 was the better player in the pressure moments as he seized further control.
Zverev produced his best tennis of the match in the third set, dictating from the baseline as he crushed forehands and hammered backhands to outmanoeuvre Millman and advance.
Millman was making his eighth appearance on home soil in Melbourne but could not find the victory that the Aussie crowd craved as he tried to reach the third round for the third time.  

Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies are reunited at last on the Grand Slam stage.
The German pairing was last seen at a major winning their second consecutive Roland Garros crown in 2020. Knee surgery meant Mies missed the first seven months of the 2021 season and it took until their semi-final run at t...  

Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies are reunited at last on the Grand Slam stage.
The German pairing was last seen at a major winning their second consecutive Roland Garros crown in 2020. Knee surgery meant Mies missed the first seven months of the 2021 season and it took until their semi-final run at the Sydney Tennis Classic last week (l. to Bolelli/Fognini) for them to appear on court together again.
The 12th seeds looked as if they had never been away from the big stage as men’s doubles got underway at Melbourne Park on Wednesday, defeating Mexican-Argentinian duo Santiago Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 7-6(7), 6-3 to reach the second round of the Australian Open for the first time.
A tight encounter saw both teams win more than 80 per cent of points behind their first serve, but the Germans were able to win the only break point of the match in the second set to secure victory.
The 2016 Australian Open champions, eighth seeds Bruno Soares and Jamie Murray, got their bid for another title off to a flyer, defeating Australian duo James Duckworth and Marc Polmans. The eighth-seeded British-Brazilian pairing, who also reached the semi-finals in Melbourne in 2021, won four of eleven break points to overwhelm the home favourites 6-3, 6-2.

There were also strong opening displays from some of the other higher-seeded teams in the draw. 2021 Nitto ATP Finals runners-up Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury beat Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili and Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3, 6-3. The British-American second seeds are seeking a third consecutive Australian Open final appearance, having won the title in Melbourne in 2020 and falling at the final hurdle last year (l. to Dodig/Polasek). They outhit their opponents by 30 winners to 10 to advance.
Third seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos also enjoyed a relatively comfortable opening round, breaking twice in both sets to beat Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka and Czech Jiri Vesely 6-3, 6-2. Spaniard Granollers and Argentine Zeballos have won four ATP Masters 1000 titles since coming together in 2019, but a Grand Slam crown still eludes them after being beaten in the final at both the 2019 US Open (l. to Cabal/Farah) and Wimbledon in 2021 (l. to Mektic/Pavic).
Elsewhere, wild card pairing Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis beat compatriots Alex Bolt and James McCabe 6-4, 6-2 to set a potential second-round clash with Croatian top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic. World No. 1 Mektic and World No. 2 Pavic face Facundo Bagnis and Federico Delbonis in the first-round on Thursday.  

Alex De Minaur fed off strong home support to rally from a set down and defeat Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in the Australian Open first round on Tuesday.
A bright start from the sublimely talented Italian suggested that de Minaur would be in for a tough evening on Kia Arena, but Australia’s No. 1 player...  

Alex De Minaur fed off strong home support to rally from a set down and defeat Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in the Australian Open first round on Tuesday.
A bright start from the sublimely talented Italian suggested that de Minaur would be in for a tough evening on Kia Arena, but Australia’s No. 1 player fought back impressively to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-3.
“It doesn’t get much better than this,” said de Minaur when addressing the crowd after the match. “I’ve had some great memories on this court, playing in front of my home fans. There’s no place I’d rather be, that’s for sure.
“The most important thing is I stayed positive throughout the whole match. I’m not allowed to get negative on court so if you guys see me negative on court, make sure to tell me off.”

The Demon delivers   

Ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime survived a major scare Tuesday, battling back to defeat Emil Ruusuvuori 6-4, 0-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round at the Australian Open for the second time.
The 21-year-old arrived in Melbourne in form after he helped guide Team Canada to the ATP Cup title i...  

Ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime survived a major scare Tuesday, battling back to defeat Emil Ruusuvuori 6-4, 0-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round at the Australian Open for the second time.
The 21-year-old arrived in Melbourne in form after he helped guide Team Canada to the ATP Cup title in Sydney earlier this month. However, the eight-time tour-level titlist was tested to the limit against Ruusuvuori, but found a way through, hitting 26 winners to triumph after three hours and 43 minutes in their first ATPHead2Head meeting.
Auger-Aliassime is making his third appearance in Melbourne, with his best result at a major coming at the US Open last year when he enjoyed a run to the semi-finals. The World No. 9, who fired eight aces in his first-round win against the Finn, will next meet Australian wild card Alex Bolt or Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
In other action, 24th seed Daniel Evans cruised past David Goffin 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 in one hour and 48 minutes as he maintained his strong start to the season.
The 31-year-old is now 6-1 on the season after he earned three victories for Great Britain at ATP Cup and advanced to the semi-finals at the Sydney Tennis Classic. Evans will meet Australian Alexei Popyrin or Adelaide International 2 finalist Arthur Rinderknech in the second round.
  

Daniil Medvedev was just 17, part of a promising crop of Russian juniors with Safin- and Kafelnikov-infused dreams. The Muscovite was on his way to a title on clay in Berlin when an interviewer asked him if his generation — himself, Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov, Roman Safiullin, et al — had the st...  

Daniil Medvedev was just 17, part of a promising crop of Russian juniors with Safin- and Kafelnikov-infused dreams. The Muscovite was on his way to a title on clay in Berlin when an interviewer asked him if his generation — himself, Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov, Roman Safiullin, et al — had the stuff to make it to the top of the game.

Medvedev, ever confident, predicted that the group indeed did.

“We were strong in the juniors,” said Medvedev, two days ahead of the Australian Open, where last year he finished as a runner-up to nine-time champion Novak Djokovic. “You’ll probably find many interviews of guys who say this and it doesn’t happen. For us, it happened. The more Russians we see in the Top 10, Top 30, Top 100, the better. My words were right.”

“It was definitely cool that it happened.”

It almost didn’t. Medvedev says that it wasn’t until 2017 that he truly committed himself to a future in tennis.

“There were some years in my junior career where I was still not sure if I was going to become professional or not, so I was doing more school stuff, university stuff, maybe practising less,” said Medvedev, who drew Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen in the opening round in Melbourne.

“Then I started thinking more about tennis. I was young, so I could do other stuff that would disturb me reaching my top potential. I think it was when I was 21 and I started working with Gilles [Cervara] full-time that I decided to be more concerned about my tennis career, to be more into it… I kind of made a deal with myself that if it didn’t work out, maybe I wouldn’t do it anymore. But it did work.”

Now 25, Medvedev is a major singles champion, having halted Novak Djokovic’s calendar-year Slam quest at the US Open in 2021. The World No. 2 — the first player not named Djokovic, Nadal, Federer or Murray to occupy the spot since 2005 — says his achievement in Flushing Meadows paid dividends far beyond the $2.5 million in prize money.

“It gave me a lot of confidence, I want to say, in my life and in my tennis life,” he said.

“Now I feel like I know even more what I can do, how I can play, what I have to do to play like this. Of course, tennis is about ups and downs. We never know what’s going to happen. But I’m feeling much more confident than last year in terms of knowing my game, what I’m capable of.”
  

Australian John Peers ensured he would win a title for the 10th consecutive year when he teamed with Slovak Filip Polasek to win the Sydney Tennis Classic Saturday.

Improving to 20-7 as a team, Peers and Polasek claimed their second title since joining forces last August by defeating Italians Simon...  

Australian John Peers ensured he would win a title for the 10th consecutive year when he teamed with Slovak Filip Polasek to win the Sydney Tennis Classic Saturday.

Improving to 20-7 as a team, Peers and Polasek claimed their second title since joining forces last August by defeating Italians Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 7-5, 7-5.

World No. 13 Peers, who has been ranked as high as No. 2, claimed his 26th doubles title and improved to 5-1 in title matches on home soil.

Polasek, who at No. 9 this week is just two places below his career-high ATP Ranking of No. 7, captured his 17th doubles title. Last year Polasek won the Australian Open with Ivan Dodig.