After the many surprises in the first days of the Australian Championship, tomorrow (Saturday) the second round matches will continue. Novak Djokovic will be at the center of the men’s tournament.
men
The surprising eliminations of some of the seniors of the tour left Novak Djokovic (4) as the clear favorite to go all the way, despite the injury that undoubtedly limits him. Nola needed medical treatment in the first round and passed it only after four sets, and this time he was facing his “Balkan twin”, Grigor Dimitrov (27). The Bulgarian, who was ranked third in the world at his peak, has beaten Djokovic just once in his 10 career meetings, but he hopes to take advantage of the injured Serb’s vulnerability to spring a surprise.
Andy Murray, who is not ranked in the tournament, will try to continue to surprise after the impressive victory over Matteo Bertini in the first round. Murray will meet Roberto Bautista Agut (24, Spain), for a replay of the thriller between them in the first round in Australia in 2019, in which the Briton lost and later declared that he might retire. Four years on and he’s still here, determined to make Australia 2023 the tournament of the cup.
Andrei Rublev (5, Russia) will meet Daniel Evans (25, Great Britain) for an intriguing match, and will try to reach the round of 16 in Melbourne for the third time in his career.
More games:
Holger Rune (9, Denmark) – Hugo Humber (France)
Alex De Minor (22, Australia) – Benjamin Bonzo (France)
Alexey Poperin (Australia) – Ben Shelton (United States)
Jenson Brooksby (United States) – Tommy Paul (United States)
Michael Memo (United States) – Jeffrey John Wolfe (United States)
women
The focus of today’s games will be the meeting between Aryna Savalanka (5, Russia) and Elise Martens (26, Belgium). The two, who have been partners for many doubles tournaments in the past, will compete against each other, with Savalanka looking the favorite after not struggling in the first round, but Martins not looking like one to give up easily after surprising Gervinia Muguruza.
Caroline Garcia (4, France) will try not to stumble against Germany’s Laura Sigmund, who is not ranked.
More games:
Karolina Pliskova (30, Czech Republic) – Varova Gracheva (Russia)
Belinda Bencic (12, Switzerland) – Camila Giorgi (Italy)
Etkarina Alexandrova (19, Russia) – Magda Lint (Poland)
Dona Vukic (Croatia) – Nuria Frisos Dias (Spain)