Australian Open: Rafael Nadal, Medvedev, And Tsitsipas Through To Second Round

Rafael Nadal, the reigning men’s champion at the Australian Open, advanced to the second round with a four-set victory over Jack Draper.

Rafael Nadal prevailed 7-5 2-6 6-4 6-1 to advance and secure a date with Mackenzie McDonald in the second round of the Australian Open.

Nadal had six aces to Draper’s 13, and both players committed 46 unforced errors in their 2023 Australian Open debuts.

After the game, Nadal said: “I need to build again all this momentum. I need to build again this confidence in myself with victories.

“By the way, I didn’t play that bad the first two matches of the year. I lost against two great opponents.

“I already have been here [Australia] for three weeks, practicing every day with that conditions, with the best players. That helps a lot in general terms.”

Other Men’s Results

After defeating American Marcos Giron in straight sets, two times runner-up Daniil Medvedev advanced to the Australian Open second round.

Giron was defeated easily by the Russian seventh seed, 6-0 6-1 6-2.

“Great memories of last year, but I want to have better ones this year,” Medvedev said.

On Melbourne Park’s first day of the competition, third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas also made progress.

Quentin Halys of France was defeated by Greek player Tsitsipas, who has been to the semi-finals three times in Melbourne (8-6).

Tsitsipas said: “It was challenging, he came up with some good tennis in the third set, I kind of lost my rhythm in the serve.”

“So I had to find ways to get out of the difficult situation. I think my fighting spirit showed towards the end, I wasn’t going to give up.”

Rinky Hijikata of Australia will be his next opponent, while Medvedev will go up against John Millman, the 2021 US Open champion.

In other men’s singles action, Shang Juncheng, a teenager, became the first man from China to triumph in a main draw singles match at the Australian Open.

Oscar Otte of Germany was defeated by the 17-year-old qualifier, who is also the youngest player in the men’s draw, 6-2 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 7-5.

“I think it’s huge for Chinese men’s tennis. We have had really good players from the women’s side but not big names in the men’s,” said Shang.

Frances Tiafoe, the 16th seed in America, defeated Germany’s Daniel Altmaier with scores of 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), and 7-6. (7-8).

Last year’s US Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe defeated former winner Stan Wawrinka in the first round, with the Swiss player falling to Alex Molcan of Slovakia 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 1-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4.

American Wildcard for his maiden main-draw victory in Melbourne, Christopher Eubanks defeated Kwon Soon-woo throughout five sets.

Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, the 10th seed, defeated Pedro Martinez of Spain in straight sets, while Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, the sixth seed, defeated Vasek Pospisil of Canada, after overcoming a shaky start.