The 29th seed Taylor Fritz came back from two sets down to beat the two-time Grand Slam finalist Kevin Anderson 4-6, 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-2 in the second round of Australian Open 2020. The South African was playing his first major tournament since Wimbledon 2019 and it was his second ATP event after his injury hiatus.
In his first-round match, Kevin Anderson saved a match point against the Belarusian qualifier Ilya Ivashka and closed out the match 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) in three hours 54 minutes. Before coming to Melbourne he played some competitive tennis against the World Number two Novak Djokovic.
Battled back against Kevin Anderson!
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C-O-M-E-B-A-C-K 💪
Down and out, @Taylor_Fritz97 finds a way to overcome Kevin Anderson 4-6 6-7(5) 7-6(4) 6-2 6-2 to equal his best Grand Slam performance.#AO2020 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/0yIqoXXHiE
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 23, 2020
With Fritz’s victory, five American men are in the third round of Australian Open 2020, namely, John Isner, Tommy Paul, Sam Querrey, and Tennys Sandgren.
Stan Wawrinka and Karen Khachanov pass a five-set test
The 2014 Aussie Open champion, Stan Wawrinka survived a five-set battle against Italy’s Andreas Seppi. The Swiss champion was trailing by a break in the fifth set. Later he fought back and balanced the match at 4-4.
After producing a smooth service game, he turned around the match and pulled off a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory. Up next the three-time Grand Slam Wawrinka will take on the big-serving American John Isner in the third round.
Stan Wawrinka (🎥@Eurosport_RU ) pic.twitter.com/i5EZuK1fSp
— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) January 23, 2020
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The 16th seed Karen Khachanov played a five-set thriller against Sweden’s Mikael Ymer. The Swede Ymer was serving for the match at 6-5 in the fifth set. Khachanov was not on the back-foot, he came back and extended the match by a tiebreaker. After playing a rollercoaster fifth-set tiebreaker the Russian won 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(8) in four hours and 34 minutes. He will next face Nick Kyrgios in the third round.
Tough day for Dominic Thiem
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Earlier today World Number five Dominic Thiem survived a five-set scare in Melbourne. He won 6-2, 5-7, 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-2 over Alex Bolt. “I started well, was in full control, then made a total mess of my service game. I had to fight with a few demons today, was not happy at all with myself and didn’t want to accept that I lost the 2nd (set). It’s difficult to go into a match as such a big favorite,” Thiem said post his win.
Read More – “Had to Fight With a Few Demons Today” – Dominic Thiem