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Karatsev Backs Up Sydney Title With Munar Win

  • Posted: Jan 17, 2022

Aslan Karatsev survived a scare Monday as he continued his impressive recent record in Australia with a hard-fought win, edging Spain’s Jaume Munar 3-6, 7-6(1), 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4 to reach the second round at the Australian Open.

The 18th seed, who advanced to the semi-finals in Melbourne last year as a qualifier, won his third tour-level title on Saturday at the Sydney Tennis Classic (d. Murray). But the Russian was never completely comfortable against the solid baseline game of Munar. The Spaniard led by a set-and-a-break on Kia Arena as Karatsev was unable to consistently replicate the clean hitting that powered him to the Sydney crown.

With just one day off between his victory against Andy Murray and his opening match in Melbourne, Karatsev could be forgiven for showing signs of fatigue. Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis had faced the same 48-hour turnaround having won the Adelaide International 2 trophy on Saturday and he was unable to replicate such heroics in Melbourne, with German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann cruising past the wild card 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.

Unlike Kokkinakis though, Karatsev was able to find the energy and resolve required to fight back, securing his mammoth win after four hours and 55 minutes. The World No. 15 now leads Munar 2-0 in their ATPHead2Head series after also defeating the Spaniard in the first round of the 2021 US Open.

In a tight clash, Munar clinched the first set 6-3 after a series of wayward groundstrokes from Karatsev gave the Spaniard a double break. Visibly frustrated, the Russian let out a roar of anger at the start of the second set which seemed to spark him into life as he recovered from 0-3 to force a tiebreak, which he sealed with a sublime forehand pass.

Munar’s consistency caused problems for the more hit-or-miss style of Karatsev throughout. The Russian ended with 87 winners but also 107 unforced errors, compared to Munar’s 24 winners and 35 unforced errors.

After the Spaniard stayed calm to take the third set tiebreak, a topsy-turvy end to the match saw Karatsev throw away double-break lead in the fourth set, before he finally prevailed in the decider to set up a second-round meeting with World No. 55 Mackenzie McDonald.

Munar was making his fourth appearance at the Australian Open. The World No. 71 reached the quarter-finals at the Melbourne Summer Set earlier in January and also teamed with countryman Rafael Nadal on the doubles court at the ATP 250 event.

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Monfils Makes Gael-Force Start To Open

  • Posted: Jan 17, 2022

The 17th seed Gael Monfils maintained his strong start to the year Monday, cruising past Argentine Federico Coria 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 in one hour and 37 minutes to advance to the second round at the Australian Open.

The Frenchman captured his 11th tour-level title in the first week of the season at the Adelaide International 1 and played with confidence against Coria, hitting 36 winners and saving all six break points he faced to improve to 2-0 in their ATPHead2Head series.

“I feel great. [It was a] great match,” Monfils said in his post-match press conference. “I think I played very solid tennis. You can’t complain when you start a slam like that. You’re happy.”

The 35-year-old has now reached the second round in Melbourne 15 times and will next meet Alexander Bublik after the World No. 37 defeated American lucky loser Ernesto Escobedo 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-3 in two hours and 38 minutes.

Monfils’ best run at the Australian Open came in 2016 when he reached the quarter-finals.

Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta booked his spot in the second round with a 6-1, 6-2, 7-6(2), two-hour, eight-minute victory against Argentine qualifier Tomas Martin Etcheverry, while 28th seed Karen Khachanov defeated American Denis Kudla 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(2).

The 19th seed Carreno Busta will next play Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands after the 25-year-old downed Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 49 minutes.

Griekspoor enjoyed a standout 2021 season, becoming the first player to capture a record-breaking eight ATP Challenger Tour titles in a single season. His impressive results saw him rise from No. 155 in the ATP Rankings at the start of 2021 to a current career-high No. 62.

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Korda Clips Norrie In Statement Start To 2022

  • Posted: Jan 17, 2022

It may not come as a shock that Sebastian Korda upset 12th seed Cameron Norrie in the first round of the Australian Open. But few could have predicted the dominance with which the 21-year-old American dispatched his British opponent on Monday on his debut in Melbourne.

The World No. 43 cruised past Norrie 6-3, 6-0, 6-4, in the sort of never-in-doubt route normally reserved for the game’s elite. A former boys’ singles champion Down Under, Korda had the World No. 12 under his thumb from the first ball of the match.

“It wasn’t easy. I didn’t get a lot of preparation, didn’t get any matches under my belt,” Korda said in his post-match press conference after he was forced to withdraw from the Adelaide International 1 in the first week of the season due to testing positive for Covid-19. “But I am just super happy with the way I came out. I stuck with my tactics. They worked really well and [I am] really comfortable on these courts.”

Thanks to an immediate break in each set, Korda never trailed in Kia Arena. He did save three break points in the match—one in each set—in addition to converting on five of his 10 break point chances.

“We played one year ago in Delray Beach in the semi-finals, and I also practised with him here, so I learned a couple of things during the practice and just used the tactics that I did with my team really well today,” Korda added. “I think even in the tight situations I still stayed with it. I kept being aggressive, using my powerful strokes on these fast courts.”

The American was competing for the first time this season and celebrated his one-hour, 42-minute win in style, punctuating the victory with a scissor kick in honour of his father and coach, 1998 Australian Open champion Petr Korda.

Next up for Korda, who captured his maiden tour-level title in Parma last year, is the winner of the all-French clash between World No. 100 Corentin Moutet and wild card Lucas Pouille.

Norrie won tour-level titles in Los Cabos and Indian Wells in 2021 and made his debut at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin as an alternate. However, the 26-year-old has yet to find his top form this season.

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Sleeveless Alcaraz Races Into AO Second Round

  • Posted: Jan 17, 2022

Carlos Alcaraz lived up to his status as a first-time Grand Slam seed with a dominant 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 win over Chilean qualifier Alejando Tabilo on Day 1 of the Australian Open Monday.

Strikingly dressed in a sleeveless shirt and all-red kit, the 18-year-old Spaniard’s first-strike tennis proved too much for Tabilo, who was making his second Grand Slam main-draw appearance. In his competitive debut for 2022, Alcaraz put his game and his physique on full display after an offseason of apparent improvement on both fronts.

It was a matchup between two players sitting at career-highs in the ATP Rankings, with Alcaraz at No. 31—matching his seed—and Tabilo at No. 135. And the match bore out that gap in the rankings, as Alcaraz comfortably advanced.

On Court 7 at Melbourne Park, the pair traded early breaks before the youngster went on a six-game tear to wrestle away control. The Spaniard’s ascent was built on his typically intense aggression from the baseline, but he masterfully mixed in touch and some well-placed returns in building the lead.

Alcaraz faced just one break point in the opening two sets, while breaking five times on the way to a two-set lead.

With his last match coming in his title run at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan in November, Alcaraz made the perfect start to what could be a big 2022 season. He enters the new campaign on the heels of a breakout year that also saw him reach the US Open quarter-finals, win his first ATP title (Umag) and break into the ATP’s Top 40 for the first time. Alcaraz started the 2021 season just inside the Top 150.

In the top quarter of the Australian Open draw—a section ripe with opportunity due to the absence of Novak Djokovic—Alcaraz will take on either Marton Fucsovics or Dusan Lajovic in Round 2. Looking one step further, No. 7 seed Matteo Berrettini looms as a potential third-round opponent.

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