The Australian Open 2020 has begun with a bang. The first two days of the event witnessed some dominant display from the top players. Some surprises were also on the display and so were many epic matches with nail biting finishes. Let’s recap the action in the men’s section during the 1st two days of this year’s first Grand Slam.
The Favorites
The 1st day saw Roger Federer beginning his quest for a 7th Australian Open title against America’s Steve Johnson. The Swiss maestro dominated the match and marched to the 2nd round in 3 straight sets.
Things were not so straight for Novak Djokovic who had to face some resistance from gritty German youngster Jan-Lennard Struff. The Serb would eventually hold fort at the loss of one set. Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas also displayed some dominant form scoring a straight set win over Italian Salvatore Caruso.
More action was on display on the 2nd day as Rafael Nadal dispatched Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien in 3 sets. Nadal is in the eternal quest for his 2nd Australian Open title. Austria’s Dominic Thiem would start his 2020 Australian Open with an impressive win over French player Adrian Mannarino in 3 sets.
Another tournament favorite Russia’s Daniil Medvedev would be up against rising American star Frances Tiafoe.The Russian was through in 4 sets in an intense match. Germany’s Alexander Zverev who is on the quest to regain his form faced Italy’s Marco Cecchinato and was through in a somewhat straightforward manner in 3 tight sets.
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The Challengers
Grigor Dimitrov recovered from a 1st set deficit against Argentine Juan Londero to cruise through in 4 sets and avoid a massive upset. Serbia’s rising star Dusan Lajovic defeated Britain’s Kyle Edmund to get through to the 2nd round. Another inform player Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut defeated compatriot Feliciano Lopez in 3 straight sets to get his campaign up and running at Melbourne Park.
On the 2nd say American big server John Isner won his first round match against the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro in 3 of the 4 tie break sets. Another popular player David Goffin of Belgium would book his 2nd round berth by beating Jeremy Chardy of France.
Local hero Nick Kyrgios also got the job done in 3 sets against the Italian Lorenzo Sonego. Talented French player Gael Monfils also started the Australian Open on a winning note against the Taiwanese Opponent Lu Yen-Hsun. Russia’s Andrey Rublev who comes into the tournament will a strong form got into the winning run against Australian player Christopher Connell.
The 2014 Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka faced a tricky 1st round opponent in Bosnian Damir Dzumhur but got through in 4 sets. Russia’s Karen Khachanov also needed 4 sets to overcome Mario Martinez of Spain. Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman looked solid in his 3 set victory against Lloyd Harris of South Africa and so did the 2018 finalist Marin Cilic of Croatia who also won his 1st round match in 3 straight sets.
Upsets And Epic Contests
The 1st day saw an epic 5 set contest between Reilly Opelka of the United States and Fabio Fognini of Italy. The match went to 5 tight sets and was decided by a final set tie breaker. The Italian Fognini came through from behind to win the 4th and 5th set and avoid a possible early exit.
Another great contest between Dan Evans of Britain and Mackenzie McDonald of Australia went down to 5 sets. Evans came back from the brink of ouster to win the last 3 sets and beat the local boy. The British star showed great grit to register one of the most difficult comebacks of his career.
Rising Canadian stars Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime faced surprising first round exits with both of them losing their matches in 4 sets. Croatia’s rising star Borna Coric also exited the tournament in the 1st round getting beaten by America’s Sam Querrey in 3 straight sets.
South Africa’s Kevin Anderson who is making a comeback had some hard time against Llya Ivashka of Balarus. The former Wimbledon runner-up was however able to come through in the 5th set tie breaker and avoid an upset.
In another huge upset the 2008 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga from France was shown exit door by local boy Alexei Popyrin. Rising Polish star Hubert Hurkacz registered a great comeback coming from 2 sets down and winning the next 3 against Denis Novak of Austria thus got entry into the second round.