Notebook 5 – Fritz like the legends, Sinner fly McEnroe, Medvedev tumbled, Collins irritated and a German miracle – rts.ch

THE GOOD TRACES OF FRITZ At 300 per hour; thus entered Taylor Fritz in his 9th Australian Open. After sticking 6-2 6-0 6-3 to Jenson Brooksby, the finalist of the last US Open atomized Cristian Garin 6-2 6-1 6-0, only 8 games lost in two outings, thus becoming – w. -o. except – the 3rd player in 37 years to have lost so little to reach the 3rd round in Melbourne. The other two are guys named Roger Federer (6 in 2008) and Rafael Nadal (4 in 2011), two guys who apparently made history. This shows the steamroller that the American is currently. “I want to win a Grand Slam this year“, he repeats over and over again. A bad omen, however, in this fortnight: neither “RF” in 2008 nor “Rafa” in 2011 ended up triumphing. The title each time returned to. .. Novak Djokovic. Good news for the Serbian, on the other hand?

MONFILS, 20-YEAR-OLD LEGS Gaël Monfils can no longer hold still. Winner of his 7th match in a row thanks to his success over Daniel Altmaier (7-5 ​​6-3 7-6), the 38-year-old Parisian appears 18 fewer in Australia. Calm and more focused on his tennis than on the sidelines, “La Monf” says he is reaping the fruits of his work over the last few months. “We work hard, but the results don’t come right awayhe noted at a press conference. We continue to struggle, we hold on. Except that we are compared to legends. But they are the sun. Don’t take me for the sun, I’m barely a little cloud…“Way to say that he is neither Nadal nor Djokovic. Will Monfils still be able to shine in his 3rd round against this TGV version of Taylor Fritz?

SINNER HAS RECOVERED A first set down, half of the 2nd set not better-better, then it ended up turning around. Title holder, Jannik Sinner took time to find the rhythm against Tristan Schoolkate, a regional player without much reference (ATP 173). However, the worry did not really have time to set in for the Italian who, like Marius, once started, did not stop (4-6 6-4 6-1 6-3). Which allowed him a touch of humor during the on-court interview with John McEnroe, who asked him how he managed to be so calm. “I think it’s safe to say that you and I are a little different“, laughed the world no.1.

BERRETTINI NOT IN SOLIDARITY In addition to Jannik Sinner, three other Italians were on deck on Thursday. And only Matteo Berrettini gave in. The Roman made too many mistakes and was too clumsy in his forward play against Holger Rune (7-6 2-6 6-3 7-6) to continue his Australian route, not without missing 2 balls of 2 sleeves everywhere. However, everything went better for Lorenzo, Musetti and Sonego. The first was very realistic in front of Denis Shapovalov (7-6 7-6 6-2). The second, who defeated Stan Wawrinka in the first round, fought back for 5 sets to break the insolence of the revelation Joao Fonseca (6-7 6-3 6-1 3-6 6-3).

FROM MINAUR TO THE CALL He carries with him the hopes of an entire people, who have finally understood that they must no longer believe in Nick Kyrgios. Alex De Minaur (ATP 8) is the Australian that all of Melbourne is waiting for this fortnight. Even more so since some experts described him as ripe to “slam” a Grand Slam in 2025. The mission may seem complicated, but his compatriots want to believe in the kid from Sydney, soon to be 26 years old. For now, this one is doing them well, since it went well in their first two matches – van de Zandschulp beaten 6-1 7-5 6-4, then Boyer dominated 6-2 6-4 6- 3. Quarter-finalist at Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open in 2024 – his best performances in “majors” – De Minaur still has to make a quality jump to imagine himself at the final meeting. His next round, against Francisco Cerundolo, will therefore be a real test. Before a standoff with Sinner in quarter?

MEDVEDEV, REBELOTE… OR ALMOST Last year in the 2nd round, Daniil Medvedev waited until almost 4 a.m. to get rid of Emil Ruusuvuori. Today, the Russian was a little less late (nearly 3 a.m. in Australia), he saved a match point in the 3rd set, but he did not manage to escape from the clutches of American hopeful Learner Tien (ATP 121, 19 years old). The three-time finalist from Melbourne, who notably produced an exceptional volley not to give in, pushed back the deadline for a long time. Before falling. His ATP points will soar.

SWIATEK, THE BIT WITH TEETH 6-3 6-4 then 6-2 6-0. It’s an understatement to say that Iga Swiatek also went all out in her tournament. With her teeth in her teeth, still irritated by this positive doping test of which she says she is innocent, the Pole intends to mark her territory on the court, in an Australia which has only succeeded once (semi-final in 2022). Her next meeting will pit her against Emma Raducanu, the one from whom she succeeded on the US Open list two and a half years ago. The opportunity to send a message to the competition? In any case, the Polish woman’s consistency pays off. On Thursday, she became the 4th player in history to reach at least the 3rd round of 20 Grand Slam events in a row. The previous three? Martina Navratilova, Arantxa Sanchez and Conchita Martinez. Beautiful people.

LILY TAKES ROOTS It’s a Melbourne “Sommermärchen”, an Australian summer miracle while Germany is in the cold. Eva Lys, yesterday’s happy loser, is today’s big winner. Drafted after Anna Kalinskaya’s withdrawal, the native of kyiv spent an additional round in her Australian adventure. Kimberly Birrell was caught in her net on Tuesday, Varvara Gracheva took the bait this Thursday, beaten 6-2 3-6 6-4. Lys could even dream even bigger, her round of 16 pitting her against Jaqueline Cristian seems very open. “I’m speechless, but so happy“, commented the 128th in the world, already assured of making a jump in the WTA rankings at the end of the month. And the person concerned has already earned a nickname: “Lucky Lys”.

“PAPAOUTAI” Usually trained by her dad, Eva Lys has to do without it, on the banks of the Yarra. Simply because once his daughter was eliminated in qualifying, his father decided to return to Germany. Bad choice. That she goes to the 2nd week would be the crowning glory for Mr. Lys, who is undoubtedly following with tender eyes the journey of his daughter, in the meantime brooded in Melbourne by Torben Beltz, the man who notably took Angelique Kerber to the summits.

COLLINS IRRITEE Danielle Collins would like to relive the same Australian journey as in 2022, when she reached the final. But the American put a lot of pressure on herself and thus took the public support badly for her Australian opponent Destanee Aiava. So once her mission – with difficulty – was accomplished, the thirty-year-old responded in her own way to the “adverse” fans. We have known classier…

BENCIC LIVE Swiss meeting of the day on Friday, the 16th final of Belinda Bencic against Naomi Osaka will be followed around 7:00 a.m. on RTS 2. Saint-Galloise will have absolutely nothing to lose against the Japanese that she has already beaten 3 times in 5 clashes. Bencic won at Indian Wells, Madrid and the US Open, each time in 2019. On the other hand, she lost in 2013 in a Challenger in Pelham then in 2022 in Miami. Who will win the 6th standoff?

Arnaud Cerutti

Video subject: Stefan Renna