BImpaired by blisters on her batting hand, US Open winner Emma Raducanu was eliminated in the second round of the Australian Open in Melbourne. The 19-year-old Brit, seeded number 17, lost to Danka Kovinic (Montenegro) 4-6, 6-4, 3-6. From the middle of the first set, Raducanu could almost only play the forehand as a slice, and even breaks in treatment didn’t solve her problem.
In the first round in Melbourne, Raducanu, who has been coached by Angelique Kerber’s long-time successful coach Torben Beltz since this season, won the duel between two New York winners against Sloane Stephens (USA) 6-0, 2-6, 6-1 decided. In September 2021, she was the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam tournament at the US Open.
Andy Murray (Great Britain) is also absent from Melbourne. The former number one in the world, who started with a wildcard in Melbourne, was defeated by the Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel without a hitch 4: 6, 4: 6, 4: 6 and then left the facility deeply disappointed. In the first round, Murray had won an epic five-set match against Georgia’s Nikolos Basilashvili.
Tennis veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber had no explanation for his chanceless appearance at the Australian Open. The 38-year-old had a really bad day in Melbourne this Thursday. With the 1: 6, 0: 6, 3: 6, the Augsburger experienced a violent second-round elimination and was the penultimate German tennis professional. “I really can’t explain it myself. I’m very rarely speechless,” the 38-year-old quarreled: “I can’t say what the problem was.”
Continued title chances for Medvedev
US Open winner Daniil Medvedev defied the atmosphere at Nick Kyrgios’ tennis show and kept his title chance at the Australian Open. The second in the world rankings won the second round match against the Australian on Thursday in Melbourne 7: 6 (7: 1), 6: 4, 4: 6, 6: 2. Kyrgios, known as a provocateur and entertainer, entertained and delighted the audience in the night session of the Rod Laver Arena, which was about half full, and delivered spectacular rallies with Medvedev.
Medvedev, who celebrated his first Grand Slam title in New York in September, is the highest-ranked player at the Australian Open due to the absence of Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic. In the fight for the round of 16, the 25-year-old is up against Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, who defeated Jan-Lennard Struff from Sauerland in the first round.
Kohlschreiber had no chance. After only 1:28 hours of play, the former top 20 player, now number 134 in the world, had to congratulate the Spaniard Bautista Agut. 44 unforced errors by the oldest player left in the men’s field were far too many against the consistent Spaniard.
Eleven out of twelve Germans are out
“I can’t even be angry, angry, disappointed,” said Kohlschreiber: “It was bewitched through and through today. It couldn’t have been worse.” In the first round, the Augsburger had won in three sets against the Italian Marco Cecchinato 6: 4, 7: 5, 7: 6 (7: 0) – two days later nothing worked out. “Personally, I’d say it was probably the most inexplicable feeling on the pitch I’ve seen to date,” he said. He could only take this defeat with “gallows humor”, he said and reported: “My coach said: ‘He’s going to eat a burger first’.”
From the initially twelve German tennis professionals – nine men and three women – only Zverev is represented in the field of the first Grand Slam tournament of the season. The third in the world rankings from Hamburg meets Radu Albot from Moldova as the clear favorite on Friday. In Australia, the 24-year-old is aiming for his first Grand Slam title.
After all, there was a German success in doubles. The Davis Cup players Jan-Lennard Struff and Dominik Koepfer prevailed 6: 3, 6: 3 against the Serbs Filip Krajinovic and Matej Sabanov. In singles, Struff had already finished in round one, and Koepfer in round two. In the women’s category, neither Angelique Kerber nor Andrea Petkovic nor Tatjana Maria survived their first-round task.
The women’s competition experienced a surprise on Thursday with the second round elimination of the Spanish world number three Garbiñe Muguruza. The 28-year-old world-class tennis player surprisingly lost to unseeded French player Alizé Cornet 3:6, 3:6. Former Wimbledon and French Open winner Muguruza was in the final of the Australian Open two years ago.
Another top ten player eliminated in the second round was Estonian Anett Kontaveit. The seventh in the world rankings lost to the 19-year-old Danish Clara Tauson 2: 6, 4: 6.
