Day two review Australian men

It was an exciting day two with 8 Australian men taking to the courts at Melbourne Park.

All eyes were on Nick Kyrgios as he faced Britain’s Jacob Fearnley, unfortunately the Brit was too much of an obstacle for the Australian to get past.

The final score was 7-6(3), 6-3, 7-6(2).

In better news Jordan Thompson defeated Germany’s Dominik Koepfer 7-6(3), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Thanasi Kokkinakis defeated Roman Safiullin 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(5). Wins also came for James Duckworth, James McCabe, Aleksandar Vukic and Tristan Schoolkate.

Aleksandar Vukic battled past Bosnian, Damir Dzumhur in a see-sawing match, 6-7(3), 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Melbourne, Australia; 13th Jan 2025: Aleksandar Vukic of Australia during a round one match at the Australian Open. Melbourne, Australia. (Photo Credit: Rob Keating/RobiciaTennisPhotography)

In a rematch of last year’s US Open first round, Tristan Schoolkate defeated Japanese player, Taro Daniel, 6-7(8), 7-6(4), 6-1, 6-4.

Melbourne, Australia; 13th Jan 2025: Tristan Schoolkate of Australia during a round one match at the Australian Open. Melbourne, Australia. (Photo Credit: Rob Keating/RobiciaTennisPhotography)

James McCabe got is first tour win, doing it at a Grand Slam.

The 21-year-old was all smiles after emerging victorious against talented young Spanish Qualifier, Martin Landeluce, 6-4 6-3 6-4.

“Just really happy to get through it. I’ve lost three or four in a row so just to get that monkey off my shoulder and getting all the experience on the bigger stages against the bigger players, you can’t really prepare for that, you just gotta go through it. Hopefully I can keep going,” McCabe said.

Earlier in the day, James Duckworth broke a five-match losing streak at Grand Slams, defeating Swiss player, Dominic Stricker, 6-2 6-4 6-2 in just over an hour and a half.

“As you get older you appreciate how difficult it is and how strong the game of tennis is worldwide and how hard it is to win those matches, so you develop a greater appreciation for winning matches at Grand Slams, for sure,” said Duckworth.

Melbourne, Australia; 13th Jan 2025: James Duckworth of Australia during a practice session at the Australian Open. Melbourne, Australia. (Photo Credit: Rob Keating/RobiciaTennisPhotography)

Christopher O’Connell suffered a heartbreaking loss against Tommy Paul after fighting back from two sets to one down.

Melbourne, Australia; 13th Jan 2025: Christopher O’Connell of Australia during a round one match at the Australian Open. Melbourne, Australia. (Photo Credit: Rob Keating/RobiciaTennisPhotography)

O’Connell was broken to love when serving to send the match to a tie breaker.

In a tense and pivotal game to stay alive in the match, Christopher O’Connell faced immense pressure from the relentless Tommy Paul. The Australian’s serve faltered early, allowing Paul to seize the initiative with a blistering backhand winner. Despite O’Connell’s efforts to regain control, Paul’s consistent depth and precision from the baseline proved too much to handle. A couple of unforced errors from O’Connell’s forehand ultimately sealed his fate, as Paul broke serve to claim the game and the match, advancing to the second round of the Australian Open with a hard-fought 7-5 victory in the deciding fifth set.

Despite seeing Kyrgios exit in the opening round it was a great day for the Australian men on day two.

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