MELBOURNE, January 20, 2018
No. 5 seed Dominic Thiem defated Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 in the third match on Margaret Court Arena to become just the second Austrian man to reach the round of 16 at the Australian Open in Melbourne on multiple occasions after Thomas Muster.
Having recovered from 0-2 to win in five sets for the second time in his career against US-American qualifier Denis Kudla in the second round, Thiem was in total control of Saturday’s encounter, winning 103 of the 179 total points played. The 24-year-old Austrian finished the encounter in two hours and eight minutes.
Hyon Chung emerged victorious from the #NextGenATP encounter with fourth seed Alexander Zverev of Germany. The 21-year-old from Korea withstood 21 aces, hitting five of his own to secure a 5-7, 7-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory in three hours and 22 minutes.
Two matches took place between Australian Open debutants. Tennys Sandgren from the United States rallied past Germany’s Maximilian Marterer 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 on Show Court 2 while Marton Fucsovics beat Nicolas Kicker on Show Court 3 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. All four men broke the Top 100 for the first time in 2017. Each member of the quartet has already recorded their best Grand Slam performance and all will be keen to make the most of their opportunities here, reach the last 16 at a major for the first time and further continue their journeys up the rankings. Sandgren will next take on Thiem. Fucsovics will either challenge Roger Federer or Richard Gasquet.
Halep Wins Marathon Match
Simona Halep, top seed of the the women’s draw overdame unseeded US-American Laruen Davis 4-6, 6-4, 15-13. The 26-year-old from Romania had to save three match points in the encounter, which lasted three hours and 44 minutes.
“Definitely it was a very tough match. So long. I never played the third set so long,” Halep, who will next meet Australian home favourite Ashleigh Barty or Japan’s Naomi Osaka, said.
“I was very happy I could stay and win it. I’m almost dead but I’m happy we could show great tennis.”
