January 22, 2022 at 05:38 a.m.
MADRID, 22 (EUROPA PRESS)
The Spanish tennis players Roberto Bautista and Pablo Andújar have said goodbye in the third round of the Australian Open, the first ‘Grand Slam’ of the season, after falling to the American Taylor Fritz (6-0, 3-6, 3-6, 6 -4, 6-3) and the Australian Alex de Miñaur (6-4, 6-4, 6-2), respectively.
The man from Castellón, number 18 in the world, was overwhelmed at the beginning by the young North American, 22 in the ATP ranking, who managed to endorse him a ‘donut’, but reacted in the second round with two breaks that allowed him to equalize the contest in his third chance.
With the arrival of the third set, in which both contenders exchanged a ‘break’ in the opening games, Bautista linked four games won in a row that seemed to lead him to victory.
However, the fourth set marked the beginning of the fall of the Spanish; Despite countering two breaks from the American, he could do nothing when he was broken again in the seventh game, vital to take the set.
Fritz was helped by two new ‘breaks’, one in the opening game and another in the final, to close the duel in the fifth set after three and a quarter hours of play in which he signed 73 winners, for only 35 from the Spaniard .
For his part, Pablo Andújar offered battle against the local De Miñaur, number 42 in the world, but ended up losing in three sets. In fact, he responded with a ‘counterabreak’ to the oceanic’s first break, although he succumbed again with his serve in the seventh.
A solitary break allowed the Australian to be placed within a single set of the final victory and the pass to the round of 16. Cuenca’s resistance crumbled in the final round, which De Miñaur closed by winning the last five games.
