There have been zero upsets so far in the 2024 Australian Open, as the top three seeds in the ATP have all advanced to the next round.
World No. 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic passed a fierce test against a budding teenager, while No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz made his winning return after missing out last year due to injuries.
No. 3 Daniil Medvedev overcame the sweltering heat at Margaret Court Arena to beat his first-round opponent. But a former World No. 1 has joined Rafael Nadal on the sidelines for a different reason, as he suffered yet another early exit in a Grand Slam.
In case you missed it, worry not, as SBOTOP is here for the latest Australian Open 2024 results.
Djokovic pushed to the limit by Prizmic
Novak Djokovic called Dino Prizmic a “future star” after his narrow 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 win because the Croatian international gave him all he could handle in the first round.
It was the 29th consecutive Australian Open match win for the Serb, who was expected to breeze through the 18-year-old, according to the Australian Open 2024 odds, but he dropped a set for just the second time in the last 17 years.
After winning the first set, Djokovic dropped the second and almost lost the third.
Prizmic broke serve in a 17-minute game to go up 3-2 and threatened to pull away to try to become the first player to win two sets off Djokovic in the first round of a major since Viktor Troicki in the 2010 US Open, but Djokovic won the next eight games to reclaim the advantage for good.
Djokovic had 40 winners en route to the victory, but his 49 unforced errors are a big pockmark, to say the least. It took him more than four hours to win, which is his longest Grand Slam first round match ever since he had won his previous 48 Grand Slam first round matches in less than three hours.
The top-ranked ATP player also said that he was feeling under the weather over the past few days in Melbourne, but there’s no rest for the weary since Djokovic will take on Alexei Popyrin in the second round.
Medvedev and Alcaraz are through too
Daniil Medvedev got a walkover win in the opening round of the Australian Open after his opponent retired with cramps.
The Russian dropped the first set to Terence Atmane, but unfortunately for the French qualifier, he was unable to continue as he was trying to make a comeback when the score was 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 1-0.
It was an unfortunate end to Atmane’s Grand Slam debut. The searing heat at Margaret Court Arena played a large role in why he was cramping badly, and the 22-year-old Frenchman was in tears after declaring that he couldn’t continue.
Medvedev, who lost to Djokovic in the 2021 final, is slated to face Emil Ruusuvori in the next round.
As for Carlos Alcaraz, the young Spaniard survived an early resistance from Richard Gasquet before cruising to a 7-6(5), 6-1, 6-2 victory in his opening match.
In the opening set, Gasquet drew level at 3-3 in the tiebreak with his backhand winner, but the 37-year-old couldn’t stop Alcaraz, who shifted to another gear, from that point on.
Alcaraz powered through a 3-0 lead in the second set and never looked back, outmuscling Gasquet as the match wore on. Following the straight sets victory, the World No. 2 will face Lorenzo Sonego in the next round tomorrow.
Murray makes painful admission after early exit
Andy Murray has not gotten past the third round of the Australian Open since 2016, and such a trend will unfortunately continue as he lost 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 to Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Monday.
Murray, a three-time Grand Slam winner, is fresh from a frustrating 2023 campaign that saw him win just one match in his last four tournaments. During that time, the 36-year-old hinted that he may be on his way to retirement.
And those retirement talks resurfaced during the post-match press conference, although Murray said that he hasn’t made any “definite decisions” yet. He did share, however, that this may be the last time that he’ll play in Melbourne.
“I have spoken to my team about it. I’ve spoken to my family about it multiple times. It’s not like it hasn’t been something that’s been on my mind,” said Murray.
“It’s a definite possibility that will be the last time I play here. I think probably because of how the match went and everything, I don’t know,” he added.
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