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MELBOURNE, Australia — Stefanos Tsitsipas edged previous native wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-4 on the Australian Open on Thursday to achieve the third spherical.
The day after Nick Kyrgios despatched John Cain Area into delirium with a thrilling comeback, 267th-ranked Greek-Australian Kokkinakis appeared set for the boilover of the event when he threaded a backhand down the road to ship the match right into a fifth at Rod Laver Area.
It was to not be, although, as Tsitsipas captured the decisive break within the fifth recreation and held on grimly to shut out an epic contest which lasted 4 hours and 32 minutes.
“Thanasi is a good competitor and an important fighter. As you noticed it was very troublesome dealing with him in the present day,” Tsitsipas stated on courtroom postmatch.”I simply wish to go for a pleasant tub proper now, that is all I am considering.
He added: “Regardless of the problem of the match in the present day I actually loved being out right here and competing and displaying the world a very prime quality of tennis.”
Tsitsipas has a giant following inside Melbourne’s massive Greek group however he was enjoying an Aussie for the primary time on the Australian Open and needed to take care of having a share help within the crowd.
The No. 5 seed will meet Sweden’s Mikael Ymer for a spot within the fourth spherical.
Kokkinakis did not play in any respect in 2020 due to sickness and accidents and that is his first main event for the reason that 2019 U.S. Open. His first-round win over over Kwon Quickly-woo was his first within the Australian Open major draw since 2015.
With no obvious sponsorship from attire giants, Kokkinakis brought on a stir when he wore a black, A$6 ($4.65) Kmart T-shirt from a neighborhood shopping center in his first spherical match.
In opposition to Tsitsipas, he wore a crisp white T-shirt however had a small emblem stitched onto the sleeves, having picked up an endorsement deal from a office security agency.
The corporate received its cash’s price as Kokkinakis took the primary set, with Tsitsipas serving up a double-fault on set level.
Tsitsipas knuckled down within the subsequent two units and was cruising to victory with a break within the fourth earlier than Kokkinakis rallied and closed out an exciting tiebreak with an beautiful backhand passing shot.
Earlier, Feliciano Lopez rallied from two units all the way down to beat Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 and e-book a spot within the third spherical for the primary time since 2016.
World No. 65 Lopez is enjoying a record-extending seventy fifth consecutive Grand Slam occasion, having not missed any for the reason that French Open in 2002.
Solely Roger Federer, who has skipped this 12 months’s Australian Open as a consequence of an damage, has performed extra Slams total, with 79 in comparison with Lopez’s tally of 76.
Mackenzie McDonald can also be again within the third spherical of a Grand Slam event for the primary time since a torn hamstring tendon left him unable to stroll for weeks. The American eradicated No. 22 seed Borna Coric 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
Data from Reuters and Related Press contributed to this report.
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