Wawrinka, Felix, Kyrgios On Double Duty Friday At Murray River Open
Stan Wawrinka, Grigor Dimitrov, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Nick Kyrgios will all need to record two match wins on Friday if are to remain in contention for the Murray River Open title. In another busy day at Melbourne Park, 12 singles and four doubles matches will be contested as the ATP 250 tournament plays catch-up.
Wawrinka, who has won seven of his 16 tour-level titles as a top seed, will first look to overcome Australia’s Alex Bolt on Friday, before a potential quarter-final clash on 1573 Arena against Jeremy Chardy of France or sixth-seeded American Taylor Fritz. The 35-year-old Wawrinka went 15-8 last season.
Second seed Dimitrov, one place behind Wawrinka at No. 19 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, meets Alexei Popyrin first match on Court 3. The winner will play James Duckworth or France’s Corentin Moutet in the last eight on Court 6. Dimitrov beat Kei Nishikori for the 2017 Brisbane crown.
World No. 21 Auger-Aliassime, who hit 12 aces past Yuichi Sugita in his opening win on Wednesday, challenges Egor Gerasimov of Belarus in the first match on Court 12, before a possible clash against Czech Jiri Vesely or Ricardas Berankis. Last year, Auger-Aliassime compiled a 23-19 match record and finished runner-up at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam (l. to Monfils), the Open 13 Provence in Marseille (l. to Tsitsipas) and the bett1HULKS Indoors in Cologne (l. to Zverev).
Nick Kyrgios, who is competing this week for the first time in 12 months (since 2020 Acapulco), looks to overcome fourth-seeded Croatian Borna Coric first on 1573 Arena. The winner will return later in the day to face American Marcos Giron or eighth seed Daniel Evans of Great Britain. Kyrgios beat Alexandre Muller in three sets in his first match and saved two set points in the second set against fellow Australian Harry Bourchier in the second round.
View Schedule – Friday, 5 February 2021
1573 ARENA Not Before 12:00 noon
Third Round – [4] B. Coric (CRO) vs [13] N. Kyrgios (AUS)
Third Round – [1] S. Wawrinka (SUI) vs A. Bolt (AUS)
Quarter-finals – After Suitable Rest – [4] B. Coric (CRO) or [13] N. Kyrgios (AUS) vs M. Giron (USA) or [8] D. Evans (GBR)
Quarter-finals – After Suitable Rest – [1] S. Wawrinka (SUI) or A. Bolt (AUS) vs J. Chardy (FRA) or [6] T. Fritz (USA)
COURT 3 start 11:00 am
Two WTA Matches followed by
Third Round – A. Popyrin (AUS) vs [2] G. Dimitrov (BUL)
COURT 5 Not Before 12:00 noon
Third Round – J. Chardy (FRA) vs [6] T. Fritz (USA)
COURT 6 Not Before 12:00 noon
Third Round – J. Duckworth (AUS) vs C. Moutet (FRA)
ATP Singles Match Great Ocean Road Open
Quarter-finals – After Suitable Rest – J. Duckworth (AUS) or C. Moutet (FRA) vs A. Popyrin (AUS) or [2] G. Dimitrov (BUL)
COURT 12 Not Before 12:00 noon
Third Round – E. Gerasimov (BLR) vs [3] F. Auger-Aliassime (CAN)
ATP Doubles Match Great Ocean Road Open
Second Round – [4] M. Melo (BRA) / H. Tecau (ROU) vs N. Monroe (USA) / F. Tiafoe (USA)
ATP Doubles Match Great Ocean Road Open NB 3:00PM
Second Round – After Suitable Rest – [5] J. Chardy (FRA) / F. Martin (FRA) vs D. Sharan (IND) / I. Zelenay (SVK)
COURT 14 Not Before 12:00 noon
Third Round – J. Vesely (CZE) vs R. Berankis (LTU)
Second Round – C. Norrie (GBR) / J. O’Mara (GBR) vs [3] R. Ram (USA) / J. Salisbury (GBR)
Quarter-finals – After Suitable Rest – J. Vesely (CZE) or R. Berankis (LTU) vs E. Gerasimov (BLR) or [3] F. Auger-Aliassime (CAN)
Second Round – R. Albot (MDA) / E. Gerasimov (BLR) vs [2] W. Koolhof (NED) / L. Kubot (POL)
COURT 15 Not Before 12:00 noon
Third Round – M. Giron (USA) vs [8] D. Evans (GBR)