Australia’s John Millman was the odd man out during day two action at the US Open.
Nick Kyrgios, Jordan Thompson, Alexei Popyrin and Thanasi Kokkinakis all advanced to the second round. Millman, however, was not able to pull off a huge upset in his round one match against Rafael Nadal.
Embed from Getty Images
Just under a year ago it was Millman that shocked the tennis world when he defeated Roger Federer in the Round of 16. In round one he was no match for Nadal, losing 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
Embed from Getty Images
Wildcard recipient Kokkinakis took advantage and defeated Belarussian Ilya Ivashka (Q) 6-3, 7-6(10), 6-7(4), 6-2. He now faces Nadal in round 2. Kokkinakis defeated Federer at Miami in 2018, so he can pull off an upset, but maybe not over the best of five sets format against one of the greats of the game.
Popyrin came quickly out of the gates against Argentina’s Federico Delbonis winning the first set 6-1. Things got tighter as the match progressed but Popyrin held his nerve to record a 6-1, 7-5, 7-6(5) victory. He next faces Mikhail Kukushkin from Kazakhstan. A winnable match for the Australian.
Embed from Getty Images
Thompson had a comfortable straight-sets win over world no. 44 Joao Sousa from Portugal. He only faced one break point and broke his opponent on four occasions. Thompson next faces Italy’s Matteo Berrettini the no. 24 seed.
Embed from Getty Images
Kyrgios had a late-night match in Louis Armstrong Stadium. His victory came in just over two hours against USA’s Steve Johnson. The final score was 6-3, 7-6(1), 6-4.
The Canberran served 24 Aces and had a total for 53 winners to 16 from his American opponent. Unforced errors were 32 from Kyrgios to 23 from Johnson.
Kyrgios next will face France’s wildcard Antoine Hoang.
Ajla Tomljanovic came from losing the opening set 6-1 to defeat Marie Bouzkova 1-6, 7-5, 6-1. Her round two opponent will be no. 21 seed Anett Kontaveit from Estonia.
Embed from Getty Images
Astra Sharma lost her opening round match against Poland’s Magda Linette 6-3, 6-4.
Embed from Getty Images
On day three we will see Ash Barty take on USA’s Lauren Davis in a round two match in Louis Armstrong Stadium. The only other Australian in day three singles action is Alex de Minaur who plays Chile’s Cristian Garin the 31st seed.
Kyrgios is playing doubles with Romania’s Marius Copil.
Leave a Reply