Australian Open: Alex De Minaur, Karen Khachanov and Marin Cilic reach R2
. Alex had a busy few days behind him, playing two matches in Sydney on Saturday en route to his first ATP crown before flying to Melbourne where he kicked off the Australian Open campaign already on Monday.
As was expected, he couldnt deliver his best tennis, hitting 17 winners and 23 unforced errors but doing enough to cross the finish line in straight sets against a player who is yet to score an ATP win on the hard court.
Sousa broke de Minaur once but that couldnt keep him in the match longer, playing against eight break points and suffering four breaks to push Alex into the second round. The youngster broke at love in the fifth game of the match to grab an early lead, saving a break point at 4-3 before sealing the opener two games later.
The Aussie held everything under control in set number two, sailing through his service games and scoring a late break at 5-5 to bring the set home in the next game, moving a set away from the finish line. Trailing 3-0 in set number three, the Portuguese pulled one break back and he saved match points on serve at 3-5 before Alex sealed the deal with another comfortable hold in the following game for a much-needed straight sets win and a rest day on Tuesday.
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The Croat blasted 24 aces and he saved five out of six break points to keep the pressure on Bernard who gave his away for times from no less than 15 chances he offered to Marin. It was a rock solid start for the better-ranked player, sailing through his service games in the opener and breaking Tomic twice in a row for a 6-2.
The Aussie raised his level in set number two, wasting three break points before Cilic stole a break in game 10 to win the set and extend his advantage. The third set proposed eight break chances on both sides and Tomic did well to climb back from 5-2 down, breaking Marin in game nine while returning to stay in the match before losing the tie break 7-3 to push the rival over the finish line.
The Russian hit 15 aces but he struggled a little bit on the second serve, facing three break points and giving the serve away twice.
On the other hand, he had 15 break chances and five of those were enough to keep him ahead, getting his first win of the season after an early in Doha to Stan Wawrinka. Gojowczyk drew first blood in game six for a 4-2, repelling two break chances in game nine to take the opener and announce a possible surprise.
Karen raised his level in set number two, finding the range with his serve and forehand before breaking Peter in game four for the advantage that he held throughout the set. Trailing 3-1 in the third set, Khachanov pulled the break back in the very next game and he was on a roll now, breaking again at 3-3 and closing the set with a hold in game 10 to gain the momentum before set number four.
There, he broke Gojowczyk twice, celebrating triumph after the ninth game to set the second round clash against Yoshihito Nishioka on Wednesday. <table
