(Melbourne) Novak Djokovic, who struggled with sore hamstrings and a reluctant spectator during his 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-0 win over 191e world racket Enzo Couacaud on Thursday night is now the clear favorite to win the Australian Open tennis tournament, a year after he was kicked out of the country due to his COVID-19 vaccination status.
“The guy was totally drunk… He was taunting me. He just wanted to bother me,” the Serbian, holder of nine career Melbourne Park titles, told chair umpire Fergus Murphy.
And as Djokovic summed it up a little later: “It was an eventful evening”.
It was the 23e consecutive victory in Melbourne of the Djoker, who covets a 22e major career title – which would allow him to join Rafael Nadal at the top in this regard.
It shouldn’t have been a very exciting match, considering that Djokovic is the fourth seed of the tournament, while Couacaud entered the meeting with a career record of 2-5. And the Frenchman’s chances of causing an upset appeared to have vanished after just four games, when he appeared to sprain an ankle, prompting a visit from a therapist.
Couacaud, however, ignored the pain and played without restraint, making a few spectacular shots along the way.
“We have to deal with the situation. Sometimes circumstances and situations don’t work in your favor, Djokovic said. But that’s what sport is. »
Djokovic, who will face the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (no 27) in the third round, can however console himself.
He got a boost from two Californians in their twenties who knocked out the top two seeds in the first Grand Slam tournament of the season.
PHOTO MARTIN KEEP, AGENCY FRANCE-PRESSE Casper Ruud
Second-seeded Casper Ruud was upset 6-3, 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-2 by American Jenson Brooksby. The day before, Mackenzie McDonald, 27, had had the last laugh against Nadal, the favorite and defending champion.
The Norwegian was defeated in three hours and 56 minutes by the 22-year-old American, who occupies the 39e rank in the world.
The match ended with a long ball from Ruud.
Brooksby outshot 9-4 for breaks and 50-33 for game winners.
“I was frustrated, because I was not able to conclude this meeting [contre Ruud]so my approach was slightly altered,” said Brooksby, 39e world player, who drank a few sips of pickle brine in the fourth set at Rod Laver Arena. You are sometimes confronted with this kind of situation during a match. The biggest question is: how will you react? I told myself to reset everything. »
In the third round, Brooksby will face compatriot Tommy Paul, 35e at the ATP.
He will also join in the third round his compatriots Michael Mmoh, Ben Shelton and JJ Wolf, who all triumphed on Thursday. These are added to McDonald, Frances Tiafoe (no 16) and Sebastian Korda (no 29), who won on Wednesday. The highest ranked American, Taylor Fritz, however, is excluded from this group after losing the flag 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-2 in front of the local favorite, the 113e world racket Alexei Popyrin.
However, it is the first time that eight American representatives have advanced to the third round of the Australian Open since 1996.
We also learned that injured in the left hip, Nadal could need six to eight weeks to recover.
The 36-year-old Spaniard will return home to rest.
Nadal has lost seven of his last nine games.
Another top seed bends the spine
In the ladies, the second seed Ons Jabeur was surprised by the 86e world racket Marketa Vondrousova 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 in the second round.
Jabeur complained of knee pain after her first-round victory at Melbourne Park and appeared weakened against Vondrousova, who sealed the match shortly after 1 a.m. local time.
Jabeur, of Tunisia, was a runner-up at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2022, and was among the title contenders in Australia.
She reached the quarter-finals in Melbourne in 2020, but missed the tournament last year with a back injury.
Aryna Sabalenka won her sixth straight match, beating American Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the third round.
Fifth seed Sabalenka started the year crowned in Adelaide.
PHOTO DITA ALANGKARA, ASSOCIATED PRESS Aryna Sabalenka
Sabalenka erased a 3-1 deficit in the first set, finishing the match with 32 stroke winners to Rogers’ 17.
Her next rival will be Lauren Davis or Elise Mertens.
Davis won the Hobart tournament last week.
Sabalenka reached the third round in Melbourne for the third year in a row.
Ninth-seeded Veronika Kudermetova was upset 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 by American Katie Volnyets, a 21-year-old qualifier.
Finally, the 19e top seed Ekaterina Alexandrova ousted Taylor Townsend 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.
