Hubert Hurkacz, tenth favorite for the Australian Open and potential rival for Rafa Nadal‘s ranking in the round of 16, was eliminated this Wednesday against Adrian Mannarino. He also did it in three sets (6-4, 6-2 and 6-3 in 2h03), with a feeling of helplessness in the face of the reality that, except for Wimbledon, where he was a semifinalist last year, the rest of the Grand Slams choke him. He has not passed the second round in Melbourne, Roland Garros or the US Open.
The 40 mistakes made by the Pole were one of the keys to his painful defeat. It was of little use to place 11 aces on Mannarino, who reaches the third round for the third time, second in a row, and will face Karatsev.
Another top seed, Denis Shapovalov (14th), avoided elimination by beating South Korean Kwon in five sets (7-6 (6), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (6), 7-5 and 6- two. The Canadian produced 81 winners, 29 of them from aces, also 77 failures. He will have to do something similar if he intends to beat American slugger Reilly Opelka on Friday, who beat German Koepfer 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Zverev imposes his law on Millman
The one who does not give an option to surprise is the German Alexander Zverev, third seed, who is already in the third round after beating Australian John Millman 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 in two hours of play. Zverev was intractable on serve, with 14 aces, and also showed off his good shots with up to 37 winners and, to put a but, he made 38 unforced errors. Now Zverev will seek a place in the round of 16 against Moldovan Radu Albot, who beat Australian Aleksandar Vukic 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Australian Open Men’s Draw.
