Great start by Australia’s own Jason Kubler whose 2023 Australian Open campaign was off to a flyer in the opening round v Sebastian Baez from Argentina, as he will face 18th seed Karen Khachanov for Round 2 on Wednesday.
The start of each set was really competitive by both players where they both got the ball rolling at least through the first half distance.
However, Kubler turned out to be better player than Baez when it comes to his finishing; He went on to the beat the Argentine in straight sets – 4-6, 4-6, 4-6.
Kubler have shown so much fight & patience right from the very start, having been tested by his competitor on-court by sharing a couple of early close games in Baez. But once we flip over into reaching these checkpoint stages & eventually the finish line, he took his opportunity to get the job done with both hands and it’s something Baez couldn’t match before conceding defeat in the end.
For Baez, it’s not the exit he wanted after hanging around just for the opening day of this year’s Australian Open. The lack of 2nd half pull really prevented him from staying in contention while falling further behind as this match goes over time.
