Melbourne: Round-up men – Nadal through in 3 sets – also Zverev without problems – Sport

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Rafael Nadal survives the 2nd round at the Australian Open with ease. Alexander Zverev does not report any problems either.

Legend:

Flexes the muscles

Rafael Nadal.

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The top 10 players

He’s still in contention for the sole major record: Rafael Nadal. The Spanish world number 5 could leave Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer behind with a triumph at the Australian Open with 21 Grand Slam titles. On the way there he defeated a rebellious Yannick Hanfmann 6: 2, 6: 3, 6: 4 on Wednesday. The German improved from set to set, challenged the favorites in all respects and finally fended off 4 match points before Nadal closed the sack.

After Novak Djokovic’s involuntary departure before the start of the tournament counts Alexander Zverev also one of the big title favorites. The German has reached the 3rd round of the Australian Open for the 6th time in a row on his hunt for the 1st Grand Slam triumph. In a duel with Australian John Millman, the 24-year-old Olympic champion left no doubt about the winner and won 6:4, 6:4, 6:0. He now meets the qualifier Radu Albot from Moldova (ATP 124).

As in the 1st round had to Matteo Berretini make a little detour. The Italian gave up the 2nd round against the US-American Stefan Kozlov, who was 162 positions worse, before he caught himself again and in 4 sets still made it into the 3rd round. There Berrettini meets the 18-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (ATP 31).

Hurkacz’ early and quick exit

The second round went less well for the Pole Hubert Hurkacz. The number 11 in the world rankings was the favorite in the game against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino (ATP 69). But he never found access to the game and fell behind in 3 sets after a little more than 2 hours as a loser without a chance (4:6, 2:6, 3:6).

Carreno Busta with marathon victory

A full 4:11 hours fought Pablo Carreno Busta (ATP 21) and Tallon Griekspoor (ATP 62) the felt balls around their ears before the favored Spaniard Carreno Busta won the game 6: 3, 6: 7 (6: 8), 7: 6 (7: 3), 3: 6, 6:4. The point statistics of 178:171 in favor of the winner also showed how balanced the game was.

Serb benefits from Djokovic drama

Ironically, a Serb is the biggest beneficiary of the entry farce surrounding Novak Djokovic, which culminated in his expulsion. Miomir Kecmanovic, number 77 in the world, should have played against his compatriot, who was almost certainly overpowered, in the 1st round. Now the 22-year-old from Belgrade is in the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time after victories against a lucky loser and the unseeded American Tommy Paul.

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