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We also saw another amazing all-American contest from yesterday afternoon at Rod Laver Arena with both Tommy Paul & Benjamin Shelton battling it out for tomorrow’s last four against the eventual winner from last night’s other QF – Novak Djokovic.

Paul had a great opening two sets that spanned from a such a close opening stage that went all the way via the tiebreak to an easy 2nd set run. Although Shelton never gave up to deny Paul a straight sets win at the first attempt following a tight 3rd stage, but Paul had the last laugh in the end where he confirmed Shelton’s elimination with the 5th & final set to spare – 6-7 (6-8 tiebreak), 3-6, 7-5, 4-6.

Incredible run to the final eight from Ben Shelton on his first go in this year’s Australian Open. We would’ve loved to see him have a crack v Novak but sadly it just wasn’t his day to savour yesterday. He was always on top of his high standards for the majority that puts him on the same page as Tommy Paul. Yes, he did show some execution in the third set but then he was always under pressure to tie another one going into the 5th set decider (if required) & Shelton just couldn’t drag Paul away from the finish line following the fourth stage with the QF exit. Sure his breakthrough here means that he will always last two weeks of grand slam singles’ campaigns going forward with an eye of trophies hopefully at some point.

The same goes to Paul but he’s a bit older now at 25 which is the right place to test himself v one of the top players, particularly Novak when he will be tested next in his first ever grand slam singles’ semi-final tomorrow. He was off on a flyer with such a close escape to get past Shelton in the first set followed by an easy 2nd stage run. Plus, Tommy also showed some response following a narrow third stage loss where his ability to fight back alongside his executions have reflected his match-winning QF performance in the end. These ingredients he has on offer will hopefully go all the way & block Djokovic in race towards Sunday’s main event against either Karen Khachanov or Stefanos Tsitsipas.

5th seed Andrey Rublev had an easy afternoon out against the 25th seed from Britain Dan Evans in a straight sets win here at Margaret Court Arena – 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.

The early stages of first set was really interesting with both players being on the same page. But Rublev have taken the whole show from then on where he managed to tick off all three sets – including an easy 2nd & 3rd stanza – before he confirmed Evans’s elimination for the 3R win. 

Evans fired off not bad when building some early momentum. Sadly, he fell off a cliff following the 1st set loss and couldn’t find a way to put the pressure back to Rublev throughout  the rest of this tie. He exited Melbourne park with back-to-back 3rd rounds over the last two years, but having made the Round 4 twice in 2017 (Australian Open) & 2021 (US Open), his next breakthrough singles’ grand slam career will have to wait at another time.

And congratulations to Rublev with the easy win. He has great finishing ability that helped Rublev top such a huge lead on Evans; It will be interesting to see though if he has the fightback needed to overcome Rune for 4R & advance into the Final 8 here for the second time since 2021. Now he hasn’t made the semis so far in his career but has a consistent Top 10 ranking at No.6 right now, especially when he had two Final 8 appearances at Roland Garros & US Open last year. So hopefully his recent grand slam singles’ record would help him stay into the 2nd week & have an extended run here at Melbourne Park.

Can you believe it? American Sebastian Korda has eliminated Daniil Medvedev (Russia) last night after he got away with the upset win in straight sets here at Rod Laver Arena – 7-6 (9-7 tie), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4 tie).

Looks like we won’t be seeing both last year’s finalists battling for this grand slam prize again for 2023; one is defending champ Rafa Nadal after 2R when he had experienced some strain before he was eliminated by Mackenzie McDonald (USA), and another is Medvedev where he couldn’t get on hold of Korda all along from start to finish. 

Medvedev didn’t have a great start but it took a while for him to get the ball rolling – such as a couple of games being fought back that gave him the chance to redeem himself via these tiebreaks (1st & 3rd set).

Sadly, he just wasn’t consistent that not only saw Medvedev easily lost the 2nd set but also couldn’t find the execution needed to get on top of Korda or at least restart a 2nd half comeback.

Meanwhile, how good was Korda where he showed so much courage & strength that helped him upset one of the elite grand slam players right now. That strong start being followed up by an opening set tiebreak win allowed Korda to take advantage with an easy 2nd stage, as all he had to do it close this 3R tie in straight sets.

He was closer to losing the 3rd set at one stage to Medvedev at 5-6, but again he never gave up by putting it into a another tiebreak & here it is – Korda has  found the finish line first ahead of his 4R meeting with 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz from Poland tomorrow. Sensational stuff as he looks to follow his father’s footsteps in Petr by winning a grand slam here, having seen him done so back in 1998.

Day 4 may have wrapped up past midnight, but unfortunately, 2nd seed Ons Jabeur (Tunisia) will not be proceeding past Round 2 of this year’s Australian Open after she was eliminated by Czech Republic’s Markéta Vondroušová out of this three-set showdown. Now Vondroušová will be facing another Czech tomorrow for 3R in Linda Fruhvirtova.

The final score at a quiet & small crowd at Rod Laver Arena was 6-1, 5-7, 6-1.

Gutted to see Jabeur exit this women’s singles’ competition early, having came returned to Melbourne Park with back-to-back runner-up grand slams from Wimbledon & US Open last year. A mix of some pain took her a while to get the ball rolling where she defined her 2R opponent a straight sets opportunity going into the 3rd set decider. But then the inconsistency & the pain not helping much in the end, as she just wasn’t at her best last night expecting to play in the Finals here. Now Jabeur will look to recover for a while before she can be at full force again & try to go one better for the next grand slam (Roland Garros) in late May-early June.

And congrats to Vondroušová with the upset win where she was firing in all cylinders from start to finish. Although there are some mistakes that didn’t help her wrap up in straight sets during the 2nd stage, especially when playing against one of top player in particular like Jabeur at the moment. Now she hasn’t been at her best as of late apart from being alright at the Australian Open, such as the 4R in 2021 & 3R in 2022. However, she already has a final to her name before at the 2019 Roland Garros against the now-retired Ash Barty, where she ended up in 2nd while Ash got her breakthrough moment with her first major title. Surely, this tournament is the perfect time now to prove that she has unfinished business to do v the elite.

This is such incredible Grand Slam Tennis by Australian Alexei Popyrin, as he just eliminated 8th seed Taylor Fritz (USA) following a long afternoon out (about four hours) with the five-set win at John Cain Arena.

Popyrin had a great opening two sets even though it wasn’t an easy one for sure via back-to-back tiebreaks, particularly when he‘s up against one of the Top 10 seeds of this tournament in Fritz. Then Fritz began to send a huge threat from two sets down where not only he won back the third stage, but denied Popyrin the first match point opportunity via the tiebreaker that led into a fifth & final set decider. 

In the end though, Popyrin got through the finish line comfortably & he is now on his way onto Round 3 this Saturday v another American in Benjamin Shelton. The final score was a huge contest- 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (2-7), 4-6, 7-6 (8-6) & 2-6.

It’s been a long and difficult afternoon to reflect from Fritz, having just been out of the race after only the second round by a 113th ranked player in Popyrin. They got themselves up and running with a couple of break points. Although, Fritz showed some fight when he denied Popyrin both a straight sets & 1st match point attempt going into the 5th set. But he just couldn’t find a way to overtake his competitor & sprint all the way past the finish line.

And what a day it has been from Popyrin with an unreal win v Fritz. He had to bide time every time when he goes up against his R2 competitor, having closed off a couple of close battles in the first half of the afternoon. Now he began to be inconsistent at times where he was at one point about to be eliminated after missing out these two big opportunities, but glad he restarted the final set really well with an easy end to this match. Speaking of opportunities, this is Popyrin’s chance now to make a name for himself & go all the way on home soil here at Melbourne Park.

There was also another brilliant match-up over in the women’s singles section last night during one of the last Round 1 ties between the 2nd seed Ons Jabeur from Tunisia & Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek at Rod Laver Arena.

Both players have fired off really well, having fought back a couple of games & points before Jabeur won the tiebreak with an opening set lead. The same competitiveness happened over onto Stage 2 but this time it’s Zidansek who tied Jabeur at 1-1 apiece ahead of the 3rd and final set decider. In the end, Jabeur was too good to nail down her Round 1 opponent in a straight line finish. The final score was 6-7 (8-10 tiebreaker), 6-4, 1-6.

Zidansek played not bad when not only she got the ball rolling but she also fought really hard to stay in this game, particularly when that 2nd set rebound gave her the chance to upset one of the top female grand slam players in Jabeur right now. Sadly, She just couldn’t hold off till the end when a lack of all-round execution gave Jabeur the upper hand, in which as you can see where Jabeur exposed Zidansek’s main weakness during the 1st set tiebreaker & 3rd set sprint. She is ranked around 98 in the WTA Tour, so that nearly-inspired performance will hopefully improve her game throughout this year wherever she plays.

And Jabeur was glad to escape such a competitor who didn’t give her an easy run or a free pass last night. She had to stay on top of her game when Zidansek fought back at times that saw Jabeur not being able to strike down a straight sets opportunity after the 2nd stage. But she never gave up, having noticed her RD1’s opponents lack of finishing before Jabeur went on to close out such a tight 1st set & an easy end to this match. 

She will now be watching on both Alison Riske-Amritraj & Markéta Vondroušová for the catch-up Round 1 tie from yesterday, as one of these players will meet Jabeur for the next round sometime tomorrow.

Can you believe it? This opening tie between the 13th seed Italian Matteo Berrettini & Andy Murray from Scotland has been incredible that went on and on for almost five hours through a five-set showdown at Rod Laver Arena.

Murray was just 6-7 games away from upsetting Berrettini in straight sets at one point after a fast first half so far this afternoon. However, Berrettini never give up along the way starting with the 2nd half run of this tie. Not only he has a brilliant build-up base as always, but he also began to show some rebound in the 2nd half – including when playing at tiebreakers – where Berrettini managed to level 2-2 with Murray & bring it towards a final set decider. 

In the end, it has to be one of the experienced grand slam stars over a Top 15 seed, as Murray has advanced into Round 2 for Thursday while Berrettini crashed out way early after the 2nd day of this year’s Australian Open. The final score was 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (9-7 tiebreaker) & 6-7 (6-10 tiebreaker).

It’s heartbreaking to see Berrettini exit Melbourne Park after a long & tough day on-court. He knows how to get the ball rolling & respond to setbacks, having been around grand slam Final 8s a couple of times before. The only weakness he couldn’t get past the Scot is being able to close him out comfortably even though he won some narrow 3rd & 4th sets, which didn’t happen at least once throughout this afternoon. 

And gotta praise the Scot for showing some fighting spirit that helped him collect a couple of grand slam titles before. He has a great start as always as an experienced competitor. Now he may have some inconsistency as this tie goes on, which is something Murray will be tested again on Thursday. But again, he just never gave up where not only he fought back a couple of games to stay in contention, but Murray also corrected his previous tiebreaking errors & bring this unreal tie to a close with the win as an outsider nowadays.

Murray’s next opponent for R2 will be either Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis or another Italian in Fabio Fognini.

Alex De Minaur was just too good last night in straight sets here at John Cain Arena against Yu Hsiou Hsu from Taiwan. 

He had to take his time when Hsiou Hsu won a couple of early games on occasions, but De Minaur went on to fire up with such a quick impact in all cylinders – the final score was 2-6, 2-6, 3-6.

Gotta say that his opponent wasn’t bad, especially when Hsiou Hsu won a couple of early battles before he improved in some way during the 3rd set. He just didn’t have De Minaur’s all-round ability when trying to bridge the other half run & challenge for each set wins. 

And great start to the campaign by the 22nd seed here who got the job done without too much issues from start to finish. Yes, De Minaur had some duels from his opponent through the start of each set; However, he got himself up and running though where he came out on top with an easy win v Hsiou Hsu.

He will now have to watch the other catch-up Round 1 tie sometime today where his next opponent for Round 2 tomorrow will either be Adrian Mannarino from France or American John Isner.

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.

Wow!! What a match that is from another of our Aussies from Day 1 earlier last night in Johnny Millman, having just got past Switzerland’s No.1 Marc-Andrea Husler through a five-set contest that lasted about four hours at Show Court No.3.

The first three sets were really competitive to watch from both Millman & Husler where Millman bounced back following a narrow opening set defeat, while Husler fired off well as always before he can make up these 2nd chances when it comes to the 1st & 3rd set tiebreakers.

Looking at the 2nd & last half of this opening round tie though, Millman never gave up along the way; he was too good in the fourth set before he pulled off on his own past the finish line that marked a long & extraordinary day in the office. 

The final score was 6-7 (8-10 tiebreaker), 7-5, 6-7 (2-7 tiebreaker), 6-2, 6-3.

As said hats off to both players on putting such a high standard show on the opening day of the 2023 Australian Open. The Swiss No.1 in Husler can build a bridge right from the beginning & can redeem himself through tiebreakers. However, he didn’t have the usual pull that gave Millman the upper hand, which turned out to be the case in the 2nd set where it began to catch up in the 2nd half run before eventually it became too late.

And on Millman, hats off for staying in this contention all along that helped him come out on top as a true fighter. His next match though tomorrow will be a tough one for Round 2 where he will face one of the top players in the World right now – Daniil Medvedev from Russia. Let’s see if his fighting spirit can hopefully outrun his next opponent’s elite ability for a spot towards the third round later this week.