Taylor Fritz lost in four sets to Frenchman Gaël Monfils in the third round of the 2024 Australian Open.
AFP
Bad times for world No 4s: Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz were both eliminated on Saturday in the third round of the Australian Open, while No 1 Jannik Sinner extended his unbeaten run to 17 consecutive matches without defeat.
At the age of 38, Gaël Monfils (41st in the world) dominated Fritz in four sets and more than three hours. Winner 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 against the finalist of the last US Open, the Frenchman recorded his eighth success in a row. “I’m happy with the way I played, it’s not every day that we manage to apply a tactic,” he said, delighted to have succeeded against “a big player “.
Since the 128-player draws were introduced in Melbourne in 1988, only Roger Federer had managed to reach the round of 16 at an older age than Monfils. The latter will face the American Ben Shelton (20th) in the next round.
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner easily dominated the American Marcos Giron (46th) to join Alexander Zverev (2nd), Carlos Alcaraz (3rd) and Novak Djokovic (7th) in the 8th. Thanks to his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory, the defending champion in Melbourne achieved a 17th victory in a row. The double Grand Slam winner (Australian Open and US Open 2024) will face Dane Holger Rune (13th) or Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic (51st) in the next round.
Last local player in the men’s draw, the Australian Alex De Minaur (8th) conceded his first set of the fortnight on Saturday but beat the Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo (31st) in four sets to climb among the last sixteen in the running. The young American nugget Learner Tien (121st at 19 years old), who surprised the 5th in the world Daniil Medvedev in the 2nd round, continued his journey by dominating the Frenchman Corentin Moutet (69th) in three sets.
Iga Swiatek in demonstration
Iga Swiatek has yet to concede a single set in three rounds at the 2024 Australian Open.
-AFP
A few hours after the elimination of the men’s No. 4, world No. 4 Jasmine Paolini was also eliminated in the 3rd round, by the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina. The 27th player in the world won the game 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 and will cross swords with a Russian player in the 8th, Veronika Kudermetova (75th).
Asked about the secret of her resilience after she lost the first set against Paolini, Svitolina stressed that “all Ukrainians have this fighting spirit”, even though her country has been at war with Russia for almost three years. “At every level, we are fighting for what is ours,” she added.
Earlier in the day, the Polish Iga Swiatek (2nd) had lined up a fourth victory in as many duels against the British Emma Raducanu (61st), winner of the US Open in 2021. The five-time Grand Slam winner won 6- 1, 6-0 and thus joins in the round of 16 her rivals Aryna Sabalenka (1st), double title holder, and Coco Gauff (3rd). She will challenge the German Eva Lys (128th) for a place in the quarterfinals.
After two laborious first rounds, the American Emma Navarro (8th) won a third match in three sets in a row, against the triple Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur (39th): 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 . “I love tennis so much that I can’t help but go to three sets,” joked the semi-finalist of the last US Open. She will face the Russian Daria Kasatkina (10th) in the next round, who dismissed the Kazakhstani Yulia Putintseva (23rd) 7-5, 6-1 on Saturday.
World No. 7 Elena Rybakina, winner of Wimbledon in 2022 and finalist in Melbourne in 2023, is also in the round of 16 after her 6-3, 6-4 success against the Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska (33rd).
(afp)
