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By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday January 18, 2022


The second round of the Australian Open men’s and women’s singles draw will be complete after Day 4, as the bottom half contests round two.

Tennis Express

Here’s what we’ll be watching…

Kyrgios Looks to Play Spoiler Against Medvedev

Identified the moment the draw came out as a potential pitfall for the No.2 seed, the second-round matchup between Nick Kyrgios and Daniil Medvedev is now a reality.

That it comes so early in the draw should work in Kyrgios’ favor, as the Aussie won’t have had to suffer the wear and tear of several long, difficult matches. The Aussie sailed past Liam Broady in 1:54 on Day 2, and should have plenty of energy to match what is sure to be a fired up crowd for his third career matchup with Medvedev.

It was Kyrgios who took both meetings against Medvedev, and the Russian is aware that he’s going to be in for a thick challenge on Thursday.

“He is somebody who can always play good. We saw it last year here, he almost knocked out Dominic [Thiem], beat Ugo Humbert in a crazy match where I think he saved a match point when Ugo was serving for the match,” Medvedev said.

“It's definitely going to be not easy against the crowd,” Medvedev added. “He's going to try to pump himself up, like, he likes to play big names. … I will do my preparation, I will try to play good. If I'm going to be playing good it's not going to be easy for him and probably we're gonna have a good match.”

Kyrgios is looking forward to the challenge, and he knows the home-court advantage will work in his favor.

“Either way it's going to be a hell of an experience for me,” he said. “You know, he's probably "the" best player in the world at the moment. So I'm pretty excited, I'm excited for that moment. That's why I play the game.

The Aussie has talked a bit about cutting his career short at times, but on Tuesday night in Melbourne he was there to say these are the matches that he still lives for.

“I feel like those matches still excite me, to go out there and play the best in the world,” he said. “That was always something I wanted to prove to people that someone like me could do, win those matches. I'm not going to go into it with a lot of expectation. I'm going to go out there, have some fun, play my game. I have a pretty set-in-stone game plan of what I need to do to have success.

“As I said, he's probably the best player in the world, he does everything extremely well. He's a hard worker, ticks all the boxes. I'm not going to even think about that now. To play it on John Cain would be – I'm just going to call it the Kyrgios Court – would be fun.”

Stosur looks to prolong her career against Pavlyuchenkova

There was a special vibe in the air as Sam Stosur worked her way back from a set down to defeat Robin Montgomery on Day 2. The 37-year-old is playing singles for the last time in Melbourne and emotions are running high. She was absolutely amazing in the way the harnessed the positivity and played like she had nothing to lose with her back against the wall against the 28-year-old wild card. Dealing with the pressure at Melbourne has always been a challenge for her, and the fact that she handled it magnificently bodes well for her showdown with Pavlyuchenkova.

Thursday’s mission against the talented Russian will be a lot more daunting but no matter how it plays out we certainly don’t want to miss the Aussie legend leaving it all out there against the No.10-seed. The energy will be something to savor, that’s for sure.

Kontaveit vs. Clara the Kid

2021 was a breakout season for both Anett Kontaveit and Clara Tauson. Kontaveit surged to relevancy with an amazing run in the second half of the season that took her to the WTA Finals; Tauson burst onto the scene and won two titles – the future is bright for the 19-year-old World No.39.

Kontaveit will be the heavy favorite but we’ll be looking for the rising Dane to put her best foot forward and make this an electrifying tilt.

Alex de Minaur v Kamil Majchrzak

If footwork and fire are your things than absolutely do not sleep on Alex de Minaur at the 2022 Australian Open. The No.32 was magnificent in his takedown of the talented Italian Lorenzo Musetti on Day 2 and nobody among the Aussies enjoys playing for his country and leaving every ounce of his energy out on the court in front of his home fans.

The draw is breaking nicely for “The Demon” but he’ll be challenged by Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak, a talented player who is growing into his game – he turned some heads at the ATP Cup in the first week of the season.

Other popcorn worthy matchups

Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz in an all-American derby for a spot in round three should be a perfect test for both these rising talents – too tough to call… Emma Raducanu will be back in action against Danka Kovinic, and riding high after her three-set win over Sloane Stephens in round one… Andy Murray will face Japan’s Taro Daniel for a shot in round three – and what would be a highly anticipated potential matchup with Jannik Sinner… Garbine Muguruza will take on French ironwoman Alize Cornet, who is playing in her 60th consecutive Grand Slam main draw… Love serve-and-volley? Then check out Maxime Cressy, who will bid for the third round against Poland’s Tomas Machac.

 

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