The American Taylor Fritz, seeded n ° 8, and the German Alexander Zverev (n ° 12) were eliminated Thursday in the second round of the Australian Open, a very big surprise for the first, a little less for the second who had not played a major tournament since Roland-Garros.
Fritz lost to Australian Alexei Popyrin (113th), recipient of an invitation, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 6-7 (6/ 8) 6-2, at the end of a match which boiled the public of the John Cain Arena.
Zverev lost to American Michael Mmoh (107th), drafted from qualifying after Belgian David Goffin’s last minute withdrawal. The German, who had already fought a huge fight of more than four hours in the first round to overcome Juan Pablo Varillas (103rd and drafted), lost 6-7 (1/7), 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
Against Varillas, it was his first victory since tearing ligaments in his right ankle while leading against Nadal in the Roland-Garros semi-finals (7-6, 6-6) last year.
Operated in June, he had since played only two games, in January in the United Cup, for two defeats in straight sets against Jiri Lehecka (81st) and Taylor Fritz.
In the next round, Popyrin will face American Ben Shelton (89th) and Mmoh will face his compatriot JJ Wolf (67th).