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By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday January 19, 2023

 
Michael Mmoh

Improbable upsets and the emotions that come with made Day 4 special for many players.

Photo Source: Getty

And… just like that we have two rounds of singles matches in the books. Catch up on what you missed from a wonderful Day 4 at the Happy Slam (sans rain - even better!)

Also Read: AO Day 1 Wrap | AO Day 2 Wrap | AO Day 3 Wrap

Tennis Express

Poppin’ off!

It was a special day for American tennis, and we’ll get to that in a bit. But first, we must salute the incredible performance of Alexei Popyrin, who defeated No.8 seed Taylor Fritz in five thrilling sets. And his post match interview? Moving – and every bit as good as the match. With the crowd at full throat, Australia’s Popyrin told them all what it meant to him in a beautiful, unscripted moment.



Mmoh Bettah!

Speaking of great moments, Michael Mmoh’s colossal upset of Alexander Zverev ranks right up there with Popyrin’s win over Fritz. The American had his bags packed after qualifying and was ready to head home, but he got in as a lucky loser and then survived his first-round match with Laurent Lokoli, saving a match point and coming back from two sets down to win.

After today’s win over Zverev Mmoh was over the moon. "Life is crazy,” he said after defeating the No.12 seeded Zverev in four sets. "Right when you think everything is looking dim, everything is looking dark - there's light at the end of the tunnel."

In press, Mmoh tried to explain what it felt like: "I don't know if I'm going to finally wake up or something. It just doesn't seem real. Like, the past 48 hours has been a complete whirlwind from going from being ready to go back home, booking a flight, packing my bags. I was supposed to leave yesterday. Now I'm here, and I just had the best win of my career. It just doesn't seem real. The two change of events is just insane."

Stat of Day 4 - Americans on the Rise

For the first time since 1994, American men have knocked out the No.1 and No.2 seeds in a singles draw at a Grand Slam. Mackenzie McDonald took out Rafael Nadal on Day 4. And today it was Jenson Brooksby, who toppled Casper Ruud.


CocoPeg is back

Good to see this rock-solid doubles tandem back in action. Doubles draws are underway in Melbourne.


Jenson Brooksby: Annoyingly good

What did second seed Casper Ruud say to American Jenson Brooksby at the net after he lost to the California native in four sets?

“I said, Well played, and that he was annoyingly good today,” Ruud told reporters.

Extra points for honestly after a tough loss.

5:45 and a 4:05 AM Finish? Andy Murray the Magic Man!

This pathetic writer made the mistake of saying that "no way in heck would Murray defeat Matteo Berrettini in the first round" on our pre-tournament podcast. Well, I was dead wrong, and Murray is flat-out amazing. The Scot rallied from two sets down to defeat Thanasi Kokkinakis in a marathon match that finished at 4:05 AM.

How inspiring is the tennis - and the grit - that the 35-year-old has been able to produce through two rounds? Not only can we learn from the Big 5 by what they show us on court, we can also learn by what is in their hearts, and their passion for the sport.

Murray said it best on court when he told the crowd:

"I have a big heart.”



Katie Volynets chose tennis over swimming and we’re glad for that

American Katie Volynets had a magical day in Melbourne in Thursday, facing a top-10 player for the first time and coming away with a victory over Veronika Kudermetova to reach the third round.

After the match the California native (whose parents are both from Ukraine) told a funny story about how her mom tried to introduce her to swimming when she was young but she just wanted to play tennis.

“My mom was a very good swimmer, so she put me in swimming,” she said. “And I would actually fake stomach aches after tennis practice because I really didn't want to go swimming. She would be, like, ‘You'll feel better once you're in the pool.’ But to me tennis is just–you don't repeat one shot over and over. Nothing against swimming, but for me personally I felt that you just take one lap, two laps, three laps, four different strokes.

“In tennis there's so many different shots, and that kept it really exciting for me all the time. I'm still really excited about every shot. In addition, there's a huge mental aspect of tennis, which keeps it fresh.”

Ben “homeboy” Shelton explains himself

Much has been made of the fact that 20-year-old Ben Shelton had not been out of the country prior to his trip to Australia for the Aussie Open lead-up. Not leaving the country might be normal for a typical kid, but for an elite tennis player it is rare, and Shelton, who reached the third round with a straight set victory over Nicolas Jarry (7-6 7-6 7-5) on Day 4, explained why he didn’t play at all outside of the US when he was a junior.

“I wasn't an amazing tennis player growing up. I focused on a lot of other sports, and I wasn't at the level that a lot of these guys were at 13, 14, 15, even all the way to 18,” he said. “And there was players inside of the U.S. that could challenge me and beat me every week, and I wasn't winning every single USTA tournament that I was playing. So my dad's thoughts were: I'm improving here, I'm not the best in the nation, and so there's not really a reason to go to a different country where I probably would lose as well and learn a lot of the same things.

“So I think those two things combined were kind of a couple of the reasons.”

The Netflix curse?

Maybe. Maybe not. But it hasn’t gone well for these players, all of whom were featured in the Netflix doc. Maria Sakkari, for the moment, is bucking the trend.

 

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