Outside of the Big Three, fans might look to Daniil Medvedev as the next favourite at the Australian Open. The World No. 4 will try to show why that’s the case on Thursday in the second round.

Medvedev will play Spanish qualifier Pedro Martinez. The 22-year-old Martinez had never won a tour-level match before beating German Dominik Koepfer in the first round, and he will try to spring the upset against the two-time ATP Masters 1000 champion, who won more matches (59) and reached more finals (9) than anyone on the ATP Tour in 2019.

That puts the pressure squarely on Medvedev, who battled past 2019 Melbourne quarter-finalist Frances Tiafoe in his four-set opener.

“I think I have a lot of things to improve regarding today’s match. Especially the serve, I was not happy at all with my serve,” said Medvedev, whom Tiafoe broke five times. “The most important is to win, to just win the match, get into the second round, get the sensations of the court, of the atmosphere, everything. Usually later in the tournament everything goes better and better.”

The last time Medvedev lost to someone ranked as low as World No. 168 Martinez was in the first round of an ATP Challenger Tour event held in Playford, Australia, during the first week of the 2018 season (l. to then-World No. 379 Marinko Matosevic). The Russian No. 1 is trying to reach the third round at the season’s first Grand Slam for the second straight year.

The man he played in the final of last year’s US Open, World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, is also in action on Day Four. The legendary lefty is pursuing his 20th Grand Slam championship this fortnight, which would tie him with Roger Federer for the most all-time. But Nadal is not looking ahead of his next opponent.

“I’m thinking about Sousa or Delbonis. That’s all,” said Nadal, who later learned he will play Argentine lefty Federico Delbonis in the second round. “I’m thinking about my practice of tomorrow, trying to follow up the level of tennis that I played in the third set. That should be my main goal today. I need to play at my highest level if I want to keep going on [in] the tournament.”

Nadal holds a 3-0 ATP Head2Head series lead against Delbonis, winning all six of their sets by a margin of 6-3 or greater. The top seed also brings momentum into the match, not only from a straight-sets win in the first round against Bolivian Hugo Dellien, but from leading Spain to the final of the inaugural ATP Cup.

One player who did not enjoy as much success at the ATP Cup is World No. 5 Dominic Thiem, who lost two of his three singles matches in Sydney. But the Austrian star beat tricky Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 in his opener, and he’ll look to build off that against Aussie wild card Alex Bolt.

“I was playing great in the practice week, but it’s something very different coming into the first match with all the pressure, with all the tension in it. So I think that [Tuesday] was a very good match and a good step in the right direction,” Thiem said. “I hope, of course, that I can keep it up and also hope that I can improve still many things and get better from match to match.”

Thiem showed his hard-court prowess in 2019, winning the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells and reaching the championship match at the Nitto ATP Finals. No. 7 seed Alexander Zverev won the season finale in 2018, and he’s pushing for his biggest Grand Slam breakthrough yet in Melbourne.

The German, who also cruised through his first-rounder, will face Belarusian Egor Gerasimov in the second round.

“I didn’t play well at the ATP Cup. Everybody saw that. I was struggling a lot with my serve, I was struggling a lot with my groundstrokes. I think I was much more stable [in my first round] than I was there,” Zverev said. “This is a positive for me. Obviously there’s a lot still to build. I think this is already getting better. So hopefully I can still get better in the next few days, maybe weeks. We’ll see how it goes.”

Nick Kyrgios will try to thrill the Aussie crowd as he tries to reach the third round at his home Grand Slam for the fourth time. The big-serving 24-year-old will have to stay focussed against consistent veteran Gilles Simon of France.

The 23rd-seeded Kyrgios beat the former World No. 6 in straight sets in their only previous match at last year’s Citi Open. But Simon excels at lulling opponents to sleep during points, putting ball after ball into the court at different, typically slow paces, before taking advantage of any opening he finds in rallies.

Other matches to watch on Thursday include No. 10 seed Gael Monfils against 40-year-old Ivo Karlovic, No. 29 seed Taylor Fritz playing two-time major finalist Kevin Anderson and three-time Slam champion Stan Wawrinka against Italian veteran Andreas Seppi.

After a grueling four-set win on Monday, Novak Djokovic will welcome the quick day he earned on Wednesday at the Australian Open. The top seed overwhelmed Japanese wild card Tatsuma Ito 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the third round in Melbourne.

Although Djokovic will be satisfied with hitting 31 winners to 17 unforced errors, he’ll be even more pleased with serving stats that one of his coaches, former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, would be proud of. The defending champion cracked 16 aces, lost just 11 points on serve (53/64) and won 93 per cent of his first-serve points (43/46).

”He was playing pretty aggressive and flat, with not too many unforced errors in the second set. I just managed to somehow find my way,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “From my side, my serve helped me a lot to get out of trouble.

”I knew shots would come quick and flat, so I had to be quite low [and] put some variety on the shots, spins, slices, and come to the net on occasion. It worked well.”

He’ll take on another Japanese player in the next round when he meets Yoshihito Nishioka. The 24-year-old defeated No. 30 seed Daniel Evans of Great Britain 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

”I’m playing all the Japanese players in the field,” Djokovic said with a smile. “He’s very quick, probably one of the quickest players we have on the Tour. You know what his strengths are [and] what his weaknesses are, so hopefully I can execute the game plan.”

Ito, No. 146 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, picked up his first Grand Slam victory in six years to earn the right to face Djokovic. But the 31-year-old quickly found himself on defence in Rod Laver Arena. Ito lacked the strength in his shots to overpower the top seed and was resigned to trying to outrally the seven-time champion.

Djokovic dominated the early stages of the match, racing to a 5-0 lead in less than 20 minutes. The Serbian didn’t give Ito a chance to get involved in his service games, dropping just two points on serve to cruise through the opening set.

Ito was able to impose himself more in the second set, but continued to feel the pressure. While the Japanese was routinely forced to save break points, two of Djokovic’s service games took less than 90 seconds. The top seed let out a roar after a strong forehand gave him a break at 4-4 and he comfortably held in the next game for a commanding advantage.

Djokovic moved into full flight in the third set, leaving Ito visibly bemused with the flashy winners racing past him. The Serbian easily closed out the match on his first try after one hour and 35 minutes.

Reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Roger Federer at last year’s Australian Open en route to one of his biggest breakthroughs, advancing to the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time.

The No. 6 seed hopes to go even further this year, but he’ll need to focus on a tough second-round test on Wednesday against German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber. The Greek star will try to maintain the form he found in his first-round win against Italian Salvatore Caruso, in which he lost only five games.

“[There] might be a bit of tension when you start a Grand Slam. You never know what to expect, in what kind of form the players are,” Tsitsipas said. “It is kind of a relief. I felt good on the court… I felt like my game was there. I’m happy to be in the next round. I hope I can increase my level, play better.”

Tsitsipas owns a 2-0 ATP Head2Head lead against Kohlschreiber, the former World No. 16, who is trying to make the third round of the Australian Open for the seventh time. The 36-year-old has plenty of variety in his game, with a crafty one-handed backhand that he can use to find acute angles, pushing opponents off the court.

But in his run to the last four last year, Tsitsipas showed that he is capable of playing an aggressive game style to take the racquet out of his opponent’s hands, using his big serve and forehand to set up rushes into the forecourt.

“I definitely feel like I’m more experienced now. Last year I did feel more [like] a kid who was trying to get confidence by doing certain things on the court,” Tsitsipas said. “Now I feel like I’m more mature and more conservative in my thinking. I also think what I feel now compared to before, I’m just very sure with myself. I don’t really doubt myself that much.”

World No. 2 Novak Djokovic and 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer will also be in action on Day Three.

Djokovic, a seven-time titlist in Melbourne, will play Japanese wild card Tatsuma Ito, who on Tuesday won his first Grand Slam main draw match since the 2014 US Open.

The Serbian was stunned here in the second round three years ago by Denis Istomin. But before that, Djokovic most recently lost that early at a Grand Slam at 2008 Wimbledon, when he fell to former World No. 1 Marat Safin. The 16-time major titlist battled through a tough four-setter in his opener against powerful German Jan-Lennard Struff.

“I actually like tough first rounds, in Grand Slams particularly. Historically I’ve had lots of success in Grand Slams where I had tough opponents in the first round because it gets me going from the beginning,” Djokovic said. “Of course you can always play better and I expect myself to be better as the tournament progresses, but it was a good matchup and I’m glad how I overcame the challenge.”

Federer, who has won two of the past three Australian Open titles, will look to move one step closer to 100 wins at this event when he faces Serbian Filip Krajinovic, who won his opener in five sets that took three hours and 54 minutes.

The 38-year-old Swiss, who is 98-14 at Melbourne Park, has won all three of his meetings against Krajinovic, with all of those matches coming on hard courts. In their two battles that came outdoors, Federer did not drop a set.

“I have to be careful. Round-by-round, point-for-point mentality,” Federer said. “I know other guys that are playing extremely well right now, so I think it’s just important to stay very calm about things.”

Federer’s Record By Grand Slam

No. 8 seed Matteo Berrettini will try to maintain the good level that helped him to a straight-sets win in the first round when he plays American Tennys Sandgren, who made the quarter-finals in Melbourne two years ago. The Italian is trying to reach the third round for the third straight major. He had not won a match at the Australian Open before his first-round victory against Aussie wild card Andrew Harris.

Roberto Bautista Agut, the ninth seed, completed his victory against fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez on Tuesday, and he will be back on the court Wednesday against American wild card Michael Mmoh. No. 12 seed Fabio Fognini, who finished off a two-set comeback against big-serving Reilly Opelka, will have another tough battle against Aussie Jordan Thompson.