Wow, what an enormous day. And it’s simply the second of the event.
We had Aussie hopeful Alex de Minaur progress to the second spherical after his opponent, Milos Raonic, the previous world No.3, name an early finish to the conflict with a hip situation.
It was a rollercoaster evening for the nation’s high title hope, who misplaced the primary set in a tense tie-break earlier than working his method on high, just for the Canadian to medically retire from the match. De Minaur gained the match 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 2-0.
On the identical courtroom just a few hours later, four-time grand slam champion Naomi Osaka bowed out of her comeback main event. The Japanese star was defeated by French ace Caroline Garcia, who gained in a tie-breaker 6-4 7-6 (7-2).
Different Aussies that progressed included Alexei Popyrin, with a commanding 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 defeat of fellow Australian Marc Polmans, and Jordan Thompson, with a fifth set masterclass over countryman Aleksandar Vukic 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 3-6 6-4.
Then, there was Rinky Hijikata, who battled it out till nicely after midnight towards German Jan-Lennard Struff however went down within the remaining tie-break of the fifth set.
Thanks for becoming a member of us on this effective second day of the event and we’ll see you tomorrow for the continuation of the opening spherical on day three.
Sleep nicely!
Alex de Minaur is thru to the second spherical of the Australian Open.Credit score: Eddie Jim