2021 AUSTRALIAN OPEN DAY 4 MEN'S NOTES - Thursday 11 February - ITF
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
2021 AUSTRALIAN OPEN
DAY 4 MEN’S NOTES
Thursday 11 February
2nd Round Bottom Half
Featured matches
No. 2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) v (Q) Michael Mmoh (USA)
No. 4 Daniil Medvedev (RUS) v Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP)
No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) v (WC) Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS)
No. 7 Andrey Rublev (RUS) v Thiago Monteiro (BRA)
No. 9 Matteo Berrettini (ITA) v (Q) Tomas Machac (CZE)
No. 16 Fabio Fognini (ITA) v Salvatore Caruso (ITA)
No. 19 Karen Khachanov (RUS) v Ricardas Berankis (LTU)
No. 21 Alex de Minaur (AUS) v Pablo Cuevas (URU)
No. 22 Borna Coric (CRO) v Mackenzie McDonald (USA)
(WC) Christopher O’Connell (AUS) v Radu Albot (MDA)
(WC) Alexei Popyrin (AUS) v Lloyd Harris (RSA)
On court today…
• Thanasi Kokkinakis’ reward for recording his first Australian Open victory in 6 years is a meeting with
No. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the 3rd match of the day on Rod Laver Arena. Kokkinakis will hope to
emulate his friend Nick Kyrgios, who is the only Australian player to have defeated Tsitsipas at Tour-level.
But Tsitsipas, a semifinalist here in 2019, will be confident of victory – he dropped just 4 games in his 1st
round win over Gilles Simon on Tuesday and has never lost a Grand Slam match to a player ranked as
low as No. 267 Kokkinakis
• The men’s night match on RLA will see No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal play qualifier Michael Mmoh, with Nadal
aiming to continue his perfect record against qualifiers at the Australian Open. The world No. 2 has won
25 of the 26 matches he has played against qualifiers at the Grand Slams, with Dustin Brown the only
qualifier to have defeated Nadal at a major, triumphing in the 2nd round at 2015 Wimbledon. Mmoh has
reached the 2nd round at 3 of the last 4 Grand Slam events he has contested – and should he upset
Nadal to reach the 3rd round at a major for the first time, he will surpass the achievement of his father,
Tony, who reached the 2nd round here in 1988.
• The first all-Italian Australian Open men’s singles match in the Open Era takes place on John Cain Arena
today, as Fabio Fognini takes on countryman Salvatore Caruso. It is the 17th all-Italian men’s singles
match at the Grand Slams in the Open Era, and the 5th time that Fognini has faced a fellow Italian at a
major. The No. 16 seed has a 3-1 win-loss record against his compatriots at the Grand Slams and a
17-11 win-loss record against Italians at Tour-level. Caruso is contesting his first match against an Italian
player at the Grand Slams but has won both of his previous meetings with his compatriots at Tour-level.
• Court 3 will see a pair of Australian wild cards in 2nd round action today with Alexei Popyrin’s match
against Lloyd Harris followed by Christopher O’Connell’s clash with Radu Albot. For Popyrin, this is
familiar territory – the 21-year-old has reached the 3rd round for the last 2 years and will be optimistic of
doing so again after a superb victory over No. 13 see David Goffin on Tuesday. O’Connell, meanwhile,
recorded his first Australian Open victory on Tuesday, and will aim to reach the 3rd round at a major for
the first time today. The Aussie duo are 2 of the 8 home players who have reached the 2nd round of the
men’s singles this year – the most since 2003, when there were also 8 Australian men in the 2nd round.
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notesNO. 2 RAFAEL NADAL (ESP) v (Q) MICHAEL MMOH (USA)
Head-to-head: first meeting
Nadal has lost a Tour-level match to a player ranked as low as No. 177 Mmoh on just one occasion – when
he fell to No. 690 Joachim Johansson in the 2nd round at 2006 Stockholm. The lowest-ranked player to defeat
Nadal at a Grand Slam is No. 144 Nick Kyrgios in the round of 16 at 2014 Wimbledon. The lowest-ranked
player to defeat Nadal at the Australian Open is No. 45 Fernando Verdasco in the 1st round in 2016.
Nadal has won 25 of the 26 matches he has contested against qualifiers at the Grand Slams. The only qualifier
to defeat Nadal at a Grand Slam is Dustin Brown in the 2nd round at 2015 Wimbledon. He has a 94-4
win-loss record against qualifiers at Tour-level overall.
NADAL v MMOH
34 Age 23
2 ATP Ranking 177
86 Titles 0
283-39 Career Grand Slam Record 3-8
66-14 Australian Open Record 2-3
1005-204 Career Record 10-20
487-138 Career Record - Hard 10-17
1-0 2021 Record 1-1
1-0 2021 Record - Hard 1-1
22-12 Career Five-Set Record 1-1
3 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
246-159 Career Tiebreak Record 5-8
0-0 2021 Tiebreak Record 2-1
• 2009 Australian Open champion NADAL is bidding reach the 3rd round at the Australian Open for the 15th
time. This is his 16th appearance at the Australian Open and his 61st Grand Slam overall.
• Nadal advanced to the 2nd round after defeating Laslo Djere 63 64 61 in the 1st round on Tuesday. He has
never lost a 2nd round match here.
• Nadal is bidding to win his 21st Grand Slam title and claim sole ownership of the record for most Grand
Slam men’s singles titles, ahead of Roger Federer. He became the 5th player, man or woman, to win 20 or
more Grand Slam singles titles after winning the title at Roland Garros last year – after Margaret Court
(24 Grand Slam singles titles), Serena Williams (23), Steffi Graf (22) and Federer (20). He is one of 5 Grand
Slam champions to start in the men’s draw here.
• Nadal is bidding to become the first man in the Open Era – and only the 3rd man in history – to win each
of the 4 Grand Slam titles twice. Roy Emerson and Rod Laver are the only players to have won each Grand
Slam on 2 or more occasions. (NB While Laver completed the feat in 1969, some of the titles were won before
the start of the Open Era.) (see Preview page 2)
• At 34 years 263 days, Nadal is bidding to win his 7th Grand Slam title since turning 30 and extend his Open
Era record for most Grand Slam titles won after turning 30. Since celebrating his 30th birthday on 5 June
2016, Nadal has won 6 major titles – at Roland Garros in 2017-20 and at the US Open in 2017 and 2019.
(NB ages calculated at the end of the tournament)
• Last year here, Nadal reached the quarterfinals but fell to Dominic Thiem in 4 sets.
• Nadal’s best Australian Open performance is winning the title in 2009 (d. Federer). He also reached the
final in 2012, losing to Djokovic in the longest men’s Grand Slam final on record at 5 hours 53 minutes, 2014
(l. Stan Wawrinka), 2017 (l. Federer) and 2019 (l. Djokovic). Of his 8 defeats in Grand Slam finals, 4 have
come at the Australian Open.
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notes• Elsewhere at Grand Slams in 2020, Nadal won his 13th title at Roland Garros, defeating Djokovic in straight
sets in the final. He did not compete at the US Open.
• Also in 2020, Nadal won the title at Acapulco (d. Taylor Fritz), reached the semifinals at Paris-1000
(l. Alexander Zverev) and the ATP Finals (l. Daniil Medvedev), and reached the quarterfinals at Rome-1000
(l. Diego Schwartzman).
• Nadal is contesting his 2nd match of the 2021 season. He was a member of the Spanish squad at the ATP
Cup last week but did not compete at the event due to a back injury, making his first appearance of the season
in the 1st round here on Tuesday.
• Nadal is bidding to win his 23rd Tour-level hard court title and equal Jimmy Connors in 7th place on the
Open Era list for most Tour-level hard court titles won. He is currently level with Michael Chang and Andy
Roddick in 8th place on the list. Only Federer (71 Tour-level hard court titles), Djokovic (60), Andre Agassi
(46), Pete Sampras (36), Andy Murray (34), Ivan Lendl (26) and Connors (23) have won more Tour-level hard
court titles than Nadal in the Open Era.
• Nadal is also bidding to win his 87th Tour-level title. Only Connors (109 Tour-level titles), Federer (103) and
Lendl (95) have won more Tour-level titles in the Open Era than Nadal.
• Nadal has been ranked in the Top 10 for 803 consecutive weeks, having been ranked in the Top 10 since
April 2005. He holds the record for most consecutive weeks ranked in the Top 10, having surpassed Connors'
mark of 789 consecutive weeks in the Top 10 in November last year. He has spent a total of 209 weeks as
world No. 1 but has been ranked at No. 2 since last February.
• Nadal is a 4-time Davis Cup champion. He made his debut in the competition in 2004 and was part of the
Spanish teams which won the title in 2004, 2008, 2011 and 2019 – among active players, he holds the record
for most Davis Cup titles, alongside Feliciano Lopez. At the 2019 Davis Cup Finals in Madrid, he won all 8
matches he contested as Spain won their 6th title. As defending champions, Spain have secured a
place at the 2020 Davis Cup Finals, which have been rearranged for 2021.
• Nadal is coached by Carlos Moya, who finished runner-up here in 1997, and Francisco Roig.
• Qualifier MMOH is bidding to reach the 3rd round at a Grand Slam for the first time. This is his 4th Australian
Open appearance and his 9th Grand Slam overall.
• Mmoh advanced to the 2nd round after defeating qualifier Viktor Troicki 76(3) 67(3) 36 76(3) 75 in the 1st
round on Tuesday. It was his first victory in a 5-set match, having lost the only 5-set match he had previously
contested to Gilles Muller in the 1st round at 2018 Wimbledon.
• Mmoh defeated No. 24 seed Danilo Petrovic (SRB) 63 62, Li Zhe (CHN) 26 64 76(7) and Arthur Rinderknech
(FRA) 63 76(3) in the 3 rounds of Australian Open qualifying. It is the 2nd time that he has successfully
qualified at a Grand Slam.
• By reaching the 2nd round here, Mmoh has equalled his best Grand Slam result. He also reached the 2nd
round as a wild card at both the Australian Open (d. Pablo Andujar, l. Roberto Bautista Agut) and the US
Open (d. Joao Sousa, l. Jan-Lennard Struff) last year.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2020, Mmoh fell in the 1st round as a qualifier at Roland Garros
(l. Pierre-Hugues Herbert). It was the first time he had successfully qualified at a Grand Slam.
• Mmoh recorded just 2 Tour-level match-wins in 2020, which came in his 2nd round finishes here and at the
US Open. Apart from his appearances at the Grand Slams, he contested just one other event at Tour-level
last season – at Auckland where, as a qualifier, he fell to John Millman in the 1st round.
• Mmoh’s best result in 2020 was reaching the 3rd round at the Dallas Challenger (USA), where he defeated
Aleksandar Kovacevic and Peter Polansky before falling to Jurij Rodionov. It was one of 3 occasions where
he recorded back-to-back match-wins, at any level, in 2020 – he also achieved the feat in qualifying at both
Auckland and Roland Garros.
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notes• Prior to the Australian Open Mmoh competed at the Murray River Open in Melbourne, falling to Marcos
Giron in the 1st round.
• Mmoh is bidding to defeat a Top 10 player for the first time on his 2nd attempt. He lost his only previous
meeting with a Top 10 player, falling to No. 9 Bautista Agut in the 2nd round here last year. The highest-
ranked player he has defeated at Tour-level is No. 15 Bautista Agut in the 2nd round at 2018 Miami-1000.
• Mmoh reached a career-high ranking of No. 96 in October 2018. He plays here at No. 177.
• Mmoh reached a career-high junior ranking of No. 2 in the junior rankings in 2015. He reached the
semifinals of the boys’ singles at 2015 Roland Garros (l. Tommy Paul) and reached the quarterfinals in the
boys’ singles at the 2015 US Open (l. Alex de Minaur). He fell to Sumit Nagal in the 1st round on his only
appearance in the boys’ singles here in 2015.
• Mmoh’s father, Tony, is a former world No. 105 from Nigeria who competed on the Tour between 1978 and
1988. He competed in the main draw here on 2 occasions, reaching the 2nd round in 1988.
• Mmoh is coached by Troy Hahn.
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notesNO. 4 DANIIL MEDVEDEV (RUS) v ROBERTO CARBALLES BAENA (ESP)
Head-to-head: first meeting
Medvedev has lost Grand Slam matches to players ranked as low as No. 99 Carballes Baena on 3 occasions,
including once at the Australian Open – on his Grand Slam debut, when he fell to No. 131 Ernesto Escobedo
in the 1st round here in 2017.
His other Grand Slam defeats to players ranked as low as Carballes Baena came at 2017 Roland Garros,
when he retired due to cramping while trailing No. 266 Benjamin Bonzi in the 1st round, and at 2017
Wimbledon when he fell to No. 124 Ruben Bemelmans in the 2nd round.
MEDVEDEV v CARBALLES BAENA
25* Age 27
4 ATP Ranking 99
9 Titles 1
26-15 Career Grand Slam Record 6-11
8-4 Australian Open Record 1-2
163-84 Career Record 53-63
135-54 Career Record - Hard 10-16
5-0 2021 Record 1-1
5-0 2021 Record - Hard 1-1
0-6 Career Five-Set Record 1-3
0 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
53-36 Career Tiebreak Record 24-22
0-0 2021 Tiebreak Record 0-1
*Celebrates his 25th birthday today
• MEDVEDEV is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 3rd consecutive year. This is his 5th Australian
Open appearance and his 16th Grand Slam overall.
• Medvedev advanced to the 2nd round after defeating Vasek Pospisil 62 62 64 in the 1st round on Tuesday.
• Medvedev’s best Australian Open performance is reaching the round of 16 on 2 occasions – in 2019
(l. Novak Djokovic) and last year, when he fell to Stan Wawrinka in the only 5-set match he has contested
here. He has lost all 6 five-set matches he has contested at Tour-level overall.
• Medvedev’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the final at the 2019 US Open, where he fell to
Rafael Nadal in 5 sets. He became the first Russian man to contest a Grand Slam final since Marat Safin at
the 2005 Australian Open.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2020, Medvedev reached the semifinals at the US Open, falling to eventual
champion Dominic Thiem in straight sets.
• Medvedev is bidding to become the 3rd Grand Slam men’s singles champion from Russia. The 2 Russian
men to have won Grand Slam titles have both won the Australian Open – Yevgeny Kafelnikov (who won the
titles at 1996 Roland Garros and the 1999 Australian Open) and Safin (2000 US Open and 2005 Australian
Open).
• Medvedev won back-to-back titles to finish the 2020 season – at Paris-1000 (d. Alexander Zverev) and
the ATP Finals (d. Dominic Thiem). At the ATP Finals he defeated No. 1 Novak Djokovic, in the group stages
before defeating No. 2 Nadal in the semifinals and No. 3 Thiem in the final to become the first player in the
event’s history to defeat the Top 3.
• Medvedev’s other 2020 highlights were reaching the quarterfinals at Marseille (l. Gilles Simon), Cincinnati-
1000 (l. Roberto Bautista Agut) and Vienna (l. Kevin Anderson).
• Prior to the Australian Open Medvedev helped Russia to victory at the ATP Cup, with the team defeating
Italy in the final to win the 2nd edition of the competition. He won all 4 matches he contested at the
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notesevent, defeating Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman, Japan’s Kei Nishikori, Germany’s Zverev and Italy’s Matteo
Berrettini.
• Medvedev is bidding to extend a 15-match Tour-level winning streak. He won 5 matches at Paris-1000 and
another 5 matches the ATP Finals last year, before winning all 4 matches at the ATP Cup last week and his
1st round match here. It is the longest Tour-level winning streak of his career, surpassing the 12 consecutive
matches he won in winning the title at Cincinnati-1000 through to finishing runner-up at the US Open in 2019.
• Medvedev reached a career-high ranking of No. 4 after his runner-up finish at the 2019 US Open. He plays
here at the same ranking.
• Medvedev reached a career-high junior ranking of No. 13 in January 2014. His best performance in the
boys’ singles here was reaching the 2nd round in 2013 (d. Hong Seong Chan, l. Nikola Milojevic).
• Medvedev made his Davis Cup debut in February 2017 and has a 4-3 win-loss record in the competition. He
was nominated for the Russian team for the 2019 Davis Cup Finals, but withdrew from the team due to fatigue
prior to the competition. As semifinalists in 2019, Russia have secured a place at the 2020 Davis Cup Finals,
which have been rearranged for 2021.
• Medvedev is coached by Gilles Cervara.
• CARBALLES BAENA is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the first time and equal his best Grand Slam
result. This is his 3rd Australian Open appearance and his 12th Grand Slam overall.
• Carballes Baena advanced to the 2nd round after defeating Attila Balazs 75 36 62 63 for his first Australian
Open match-win in the 1st round on Tuesday.
• Last year here, Carballes Baena fell to Ricardas Berankis in straight sets in the 1st round. He also lost in the
1st round in his only other main draw appearance here in 2019 (l. Viktor Troicki).
• Carballes Baena recorded his best Grand Slam performance by reaching the 3rd round at 2020 Roland
Garros, where he defeated Steve Johnson and Denis Shapovalov before retiring due to a stomach virus
against Grigor Dimitrov.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2020, Carballes Baena reached the 2nd round at the US Open
(d. Feliciano Lopez, l. JJ Wolf).
• Carballes Baena recorded 6 Tour-level match-wins in 2020. In addition to his 3rd round finish at Roland
Garros and 2nd round finish at the US Open, he also reached the 2nd round at Buenos Aires (d. Marco
Cecchinato, l. Casper Ruud), Santiago (d. Jaume Munar, l. Thiago Monteiro) and Sardinia (d. Federico Coria,
l. Danilo Petrovic).
• Also in 2020, Carballes Baena reached the final at the Campinas Challenger (BRA) (l. Francisco Cerundolo),
the semifinals at the Guayaquil Challenger (ECU) (l. Cerundolo), and the quarterfinals at both the Bendigo
Challenger (AUS) (l. Marcos Giron) and the Lima Challenger (PER) (l. Daniel Elahi Galan).
• Prior to the Australian Open Carballes Baena competed at the Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne,
where he fell to Stefano Travaglia in the 1st round.
• Carballes Baena is bidding to defeat a Top 5 player for the first time on his 3rd attempt. The highest-ranked
player he has defeated is No. 11 Shapovalov in the 2nd round at Roland Garros last year.
• Carballes Baena has lost 3 of the 4 five-set matches he has contested – including the only 5-set match he
has contested at the Australian Open, against Troicki in the 1st round in 2019. His only victory in a 5-set
match came against Shapovalov in the 2nd round at Roland Garros last year.
• Carballes Baena reached a career-high ranking of No. 72 in February 2018. He plays here at No. 99.
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notes• Carballes Baena reached a career-high junior ranking of No. 8 in January 2011. He won the boys’ doubles
title at Roland Garros in 2011 alongside Andres Artunedo Martinavarr (d. Mitchell Krueger/Shane Vinsant).
He reached the semifinals of the Junior Australian Open (l. Luke Saville) in the same year.
• Carballes Baena is coached by Pere Riba.
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notesNO. 5 STEFANOS TSITSIPAS (GRE) v (WC) THANASI KOKKINAKIS (AUS)
Head-to-head: first meeting
Tsitsipas never lost a Grand Slam match to a player ranked as low as No. 267 Kokkinakis. The lowest-ranked
player to have defeated Tsitsipas at a Grand Slam is No. 89 Thomas Fabbiano in the 1st round at 2019
Wimbledon. The lowest-ranked player to have defeated Tsitsipas at the Australian Open is No. 50 Denis
Shapovalov in the 1st round in 2018.
Tsitsipas won his only previous meeting with a wild card at the Grand Slams, defeating Maxime Cressy in the
2nd round at the US Open last year. He has a 6-3 win-loss record against wild cards at Tour-level overall.
Tsitsipas is facing an Australian player here for the first time. He has an 8-2 win-loss record against Australian
players at Tour-level, with Nick Kyrgios the only Australian player to have defeated him – in the semifinals at
2019 Washington and in the group stages at the 2020 ATP Cup.
TSITSIPAS v KOKKINAKIS
22 Age 24
6 ATP Ranking 267
5 Titles 0
22-13 Career Grand Slam Record 6-10
7-3 Australian Open Record 3-4
135-76 Career Record 28-44
86-53 Career Record - Hard 23-31
3-0 2021 Record 1-1
3-0 2021 Record - Hard 1-1
2-4 Career Five-Set Record 3-3
1 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 2
65-49 Career Tiebreak Record 23-21
0-0 2021 Tiebreak Record 0-0
• TSITSIPAS is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 3rd straight year. This is his 4th Australian Open
and his 14th Grand Slam overall.
• Tsitsipas advanced to the 2nd round after defeating Gilles Simon 61 62 61 in the 1st round on Tuesday.
• Last year here, Tsitsipas reached the 3rd round after defeating Salvatore Caruso in the 1st round before
Philipp Kohlschreiber gave a walkover in their 2nd round match due to an abdominal injury. He fell to Milos
Raonic in straight sets in the 3rd round.
• Tsitsipas’ best Grand Slam result is reaching the semifinals on 2 occasions – including at the Australian
Open in 2019, when he defeated Roger Federer in the round of 16 and Roberto Bautista Agut in the
quarterfinals before falling to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. He became the first Greek man to reach a Grand
Slam semifinal and, at 20 years 168 days, the youngest man to reach the semifinals at a Grand Slam since
Novak Djokovic (20 years 110 days) at the 2007 US Open. He also reached the semifinals at Roland Garros
last year, falling to Djokovic in 5 sets.
• At 22 years 193 days, Tsitsipas is bidding to become the youngest Australian Open men’s singles
champion since Djokovic won the title here in 2008 aged 20 years 250 days. Tsitsipas would also become
the youngest Grand Slam champion since Juan Martin del Potro won the title at the 2009 US Open aged 20
years 355 days. (NB ages calculated at the end of the tournament)
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2020, Tsitsipas reached the 3rd round at the US Open, where he fell to
Borna Coric in 5 sets. He has a 2-4 win-loss record in 5-set matches but has never contested a 5-set match
at the Australian Open.
• Tsitsipas’ best result in 2020 was winning the title at Marseile (d. Felix Auger-Aliassime). He also finished
runner-up at Dubai (l. Djokovic) and Hamburg (l. Andrey Rublev), and the semifinals at Cincinnati-1000
(l. Raonic) and Roland Garros.
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notes• Prior to the Australian Open Tsitsipas represented Greece at the ATP Cup. He won both singles matches
he contested, defeating both Australia’s Alex de Minaur and Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets.
• Tsitsipas reached a career-high ranking of No. 5 in August 2019. He plays here one place lower at No. 6.
• Tsitsipas is a former junior world No. 1. He reached the quarterfinals of the boys’ singles here in 2015
(l. Jurabek Karimov) and 2016 (l. De Minaur). His best result at a junior Grand Slam was reaching the
semifinals of the boys’ singles at 2016 Wimbledon (l. Shapovalov) and at the 2016 US Open (l. Felix Auger-
Aliassime).
• Tsitsipas made his Davis Cup debut in September 2019 and has won all 6 singles matches he has contested
in the competition since then. Greece will play at home to Lithuania in a World Group II tie in September.
• Tsitsipas is coached by his father, Apostolos Tsitsipas.
• Wild card KOKKINAKIS is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the first time and equal his best Grand
Slam result. This is his 5th Australian Open appearance and his 12th Grand Slam overall.
• Kokkinakis advanced to the 2nd round after defeating Soonwoo Kwon 64 61 61 for his first Australian Open
match-win since 2015 in the 1st round on Tuesday.
• By reaching the 2nd round here, Kokkinakis has equalled his best Australian Open result. He has reached
the 2nd round here on 2 previous occasions – as a wild card on his Grand Slam debut in 2014 (d. Igor Sijsling,
l. Nadal) and as a wild card in 2015 (d. Ernests Gulbis, l. Sam Groth).
• Kokkinakis withdrew from Australian Open qualifying last year due to illness. On his last appearance
here, as a qualifier in 2019, he retired due to a shoulder injury in the 2nd set of his 1st round match against
Taro Daniel.
• Kokkinakis is making his first Grand Slam appearance since the 2019 US Open. On that occasion, he
reached the 2nd round as a wild card, defeating Ilya Ivashka before giving a walkover to Rafael Nadal due to
a right shoulder injury.
• Kokkinakis’ best Grand Slam result is reaching the 3rd round as a wild card on his Roland Garros debut in
2015. He defeated qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili in the 1st round and came back from 0-2 down to defeat
compatriot Bernard Tomic in the 2nd round before falling to Novak Djokovic.
• Kokkinakis did not compete at Tour-, Challenger- or ITF World Tennis Tour-level in 2020. He missed the
opening months of the season due to illness and did not play on the Tour once the season resumed in August.
• Prior to the Australian Open Kokkinakis competed at the Murray River Open, falling to Alex Bolt in the 1st
round. It was the first event he had contested at any level since the 2019 US Open.
• Kokkinakis is bidding to defeat a Top 10 player at a Grand Slam for the first time on his 4th attempt. The
highest-ranked player he has defeated at the Grand Slams is No. 13 Gulbis in the 1st round here in 2015. He
has 2-4 win-loss record against Top 10 opposition at Tour-level overall, with his 2 victories coming against
No. 6 Milos Raonic in the 1st round at 2017 Queen’s and against No. 1 Roger Federer in the 2nd round at
2018 Miami-1000.
• Kokkinakis is one of 8 Australian men through to the 2nd round from the 13 who started this year’s Australian
Open main draw – the most through to the 2nd round here since 2003, when there were also 8. He is looking
to become the first native champion to win the Australian Open men’s singles title since Mark Edmondson in
1976.
• Kokkinakis has struggled with injuries throughout his career. He underwent right shoulder surgery in
2015, before struggling with pectoral and abdominal injuries in 2016-17. He suffered further shoulder and
pectoral injuries in 2019 and contracted glandular fever in late 2019, forcing him to miss the beginning of the
2020 season.
• Kokkinakis reached a career-high ranking of No. 69 after reaching the 3rd round at 2015 Roland Garros. He
plays here at No. 267.
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notes• Kokkinakis has reached one Tour-level singles final, finishing runner-up to Sam Querrey as a wild card at
2017 Los Cabos. He has won one Tour-level doubles title, partnering Jordan Thompson to the title at 2017
Brisbane (d. Gilles Muller/Querrey).
• Kokkinakis is a former Junior Australian Open singles finalist, falling to Nick Kyrgios in 2013. He also
reached the boys’ singles final at the 2013 US Open (l. Borna Coric) and won the boys’ doubles title at 2013
Wimbledon with Kyrgios.
• Kokkinakis is coached by Todd Langman.
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notesNO. 7 ANDREY RUBLEV (RUS) v THIAGO MONTEIRO (BRA)
Head-to-head: first meeting
Rublev has lost a Grand Slam match to a player ranked as low as No. 74 Monteiro once before – falling to
No. 81 Mackenzie McDonald in the 1st round here in 2019.
Rublev lost both of his previous matches against lefthanded players at the Grand Slams – falling to Albert
Ramos-Vinolas in the 2nd round at 2017 Wimbledon and to Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals at the 2017 US
Open. He has a 16-8 win-loss record against lefthanders at Tour-level overall.
RUBLEV v MONTEIRO
23 Age 26
8 ATP Ranking 74
7 Titles 0
24-13 Career Grand Slam Record 5-10
7-4 Australian Open Record 1-2
131-85 Career Record 48-65
102-64 Career Record - Hard 12-27
5-0 2021 Record 6-2
5-0 2021 Record - Hard 6-2
3-3 Career Five-Set Record 1-2
1 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
42-52 Career Tiebreak Record 31-31
0-0 2021 Tiebreak Record 3-4
• RUBLEV is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 3rd time. This is his 5th Australian Open and his 14th
Grand Slam overall.
• Rublev advanced to the 2nd round defeating Yannick Hanfmann 63 63 64 in the 1st round on Tuesday.
• Last year here, Rublev recorded his best Australian Open performance by reaching the round of 16. He
defeated Christopher O’Connell, Yuichi Sugita and David Goffin before falling to Alexander Zverev in straight
sets.
• Rublev’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the quarterfinals on 3 occasions – including at the 2020
US Open (l. Daniil Medvedev) and 2020 Roland Garros (l. Stefanos Tsitsipas). He also reached the
quarterfinals at the 2017 US Open (l. Rafael Nadal), where he became the youngest player to reach the last
8 at the US Open since Andy Roddick in 2001.
• Rublev is bidding to become the 3rd Grand Slam men’s singles champion from Russia. The 2 Russian
men to have won Grand Slam titles have both won the Australian Open – Yevgeny Kafelnikov (who won the
titles at 1996 Roland Garros and 1999 Australian Open) and Safin (2000 US Open and 2005 Australian Open).
• At 23 years 124 days, Rublev is looking to become the youngest Australian Open men’s singles champion
since Nadal won the title here in 2009 aged 22 years 243 days. Rublev would also become the youngest
Grand Slam champion since Juan Martin del Potro won the title at the 2009 US Open aged 20 years 355
days. (NB ages calculated at the end of the tournament)
• Rublev won 5 Tour-level titles in 2020, more than any other player on Tour. He won the titles at both Doha
(d. Corentin Moutet) and Adelaide (d. Lloyd Harris), becoming the first man to win 2 titles in the opening 2
weeks of the season since Dominik Hrbaty, who won the titles at Adelaide and Auckland in the opening 2
weeks of 2004. He also won the titles at Hamburg (d. Tistsipas), St Petersburg (d. Borna Coric) and Vienna
(d. Lorenzo Sonego).
• As well as winning more titles than any other player in 2020, Rublev finished the season joint-top of the list
for most Tour-level match-wins in 2020, level with Novak Djokovic. He had a 41-10 win-loss record during
the 2020 season and qualified for the ATP Finals for the first time, finishing in 4th place in his group with a
1-2 win-loss record.
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notes• Prior to the Australian Open Rublev helped Russia to victory at the ATP Cup, with the team defeating Italy
in the final to win the 2nd edition of the competition. He won all 4 singles matches he contested, defeating
Argentina’s Guido Pella, Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff and Italy’s Fabio Fognini.
• Rublev broke the Top 10 for the first time in October last year, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 8. He
plays here at the same ranking.
• Rublev is a former junior world No. 1 having topped the boys’ rankings for the first time in June 2014 after
winning the boys’ singles title at 2014 Roland Garros. He reached the quarterfinals at the 2014 Junior
Australian Open (l. Stefan Kozlov) and finished runner-up in the boys’ doubles with Kozlov at 2014
Wimbledon. He also won two medals at the Youth Olympic Tennis Event in Nanjing later that year, winning
boys’ singles bronze and boys’ doubles silver with Karen Khachanov. He was named 2014 ITF Junior World
Champion.
• Rublev has played Davis Cup for Russia since 2014 and has a 14-9 win-loss record in the competition. He
won all 4 singles matches he contested at the 2019 Davis Cup Finals in Madrid as Russia reached the
semifinals before falling to Canada. As semifinalists in 2019, Russia have secured a place at the 2020 Davis
Cup Finals, which have been rearranged for 2021.
• Rublev is coached by Fernando Vicente.
• Lefthander MONTEIRO is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the first time and equal his best Grand Slam
result. This is his 3rd Australian Open appearance and 11th Grand Slam overall.
• Monteiro advanced to the 2nd round after defeating Andrej Martin 76(6) 61 62 for his first Australian Open
match-win in the 1st round on Tuesday.
• Last year here, Monteiro fell to John Isner in the 1st round. He also fell in the 1st round on his only other
main draw appearance here – on his Grand Slam debut in 2017, when he fell to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
• Monteiro’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the 3rd round at Roland Garros last year. He defeated
No. 31 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili and Marcus Giron before falling to Marton Fucsovics.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2020, Monteiro fell to Felix Auger-Aliassime in the 1st round at the US
Open.
• Monteiro’s best Tour-level results in 2020 were reaching the quarterfinals at Buenos Aires (l. Pedro Sousa)
and Santiago (l. Alberto Ramos-Vinolas).
• Also in 2020, Monteiro won his 5th title at Challenger-level, successfully defending his title at the Punta del
Este Challenger (URU) (d. Marco Cecchinato). He also finished runner-up as a qualifier at the Forli Challenger
(ITA) (l. Lorenzo Musetti).
• Prior to the Australian Open Monteiro his 2nd Tour-level semifinal – and first at a hard court event – at the
Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne (l. Stefano Travaglia). He also competed at Delray Beach last month,
reaching the 2nd round (d. Thomaz Bellucci, l. Isner).
• Monteiro is bidding to defeat a Top 10 player for the 2nd time on his 3rd attempt. He has a 1-1 win-loss
record against Top 10 opposition, having defeated No. 9 Tsonga in the 1st round at 2016 Rio de Janeiro but
fallen to No. 7 Kei Nishikori in the 1st round at 2019 Wimbledon. The highest-ranked player he has defeated
at a Grand Slam is No. 33 Basilashvili at Roland Garros last year.
• Monteiro reached a career-high ranking of No. 74 in February 2017. He plays here at the same ranking,
having risen 9 places after reaching the semifinals at the Great Ocean Road Open last week.
• Monteiro made his Davis Cup debut for Brazil in 2016 and has a 7-8 win-loss record in the competition. He
lost both matches he contested as Brazil fell to Australia in the Davis Cup Qualifiers last year. Brazil will play
away to Lebanon in a World Group I tie in September this year.
• Monteiro is coached by Fabian Blengino and Pablo Fuentes.
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notesNO. 9 MATTEO BERRETTINI (ITA) v (Q) TOMAS MACHAC (CZE)
Head-to-head: first meeting
Berrettini never lost a Grand Slam match to a player ranked as low as No. 199 Machac. The lowest-ranked
player to have defeated Berrettini at a Grand Slam is No. 186 Daniel Altmaier in the 3rd round at Roland
Garros last year. The lowest-ranked player to have defeated Berrettini at the Australian Open is No. 100
Tennys Sandgren in the 2nd round here last year.
Berrettini has won one of his 2 previous matches against qualifiers at the Grand Slams, defeating Ernests
Gulbis at 2018 Roland Garros but falling to Daniel Altmaier at Roland Garros last year. He has an 11-4
win-loss record against qualifiers at Tour-level overall.
BERRETTINI v MACHAC
24 Age 20
10 ATP Ranking 199
3 Titles 0
19-11 Career Grand Slam Record 1-1
2-3 Australian Open Record 1-0
77-53 Career Record 1-2
36-34 Career Record - Hard 1-1
6-2 2021 Record 1-1
6-2 2021 Record - Hard 1-1
3-1 Career Five-Set Record 0-1
1 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
38-35 Career Tiebreak Record 0-2
1-1 2021 Tiebreak Record 0-1
• BERRETTINI is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the first time. This is his 4th Australian Open and his
12th Grand Slam appearance overall.
• Berrettini advanced to the 2nd round after defeating Kevin Anderson 76(9) 75 63 in the 1st round on Tuesday.
• By reaching the 2nd round here, Berrettini has equalled his best Australian Open result. He also reached
the 2nd round here last year, defeating wild card Andrew Harris for his first Australian Open match-win in the
1st round, before falling to Tennys Sandgren in 5 sets in the 2nd round.
• Berrettini recorded his best Grand Slam result at the 2019 US Open, where he became the 4th Italian man
in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam semifinal – after Adriano Panatta (1973, 1975 Roland Garros), Corrado
Barazzutti (1977 US Open, 1978 Roland Garros) and Marco Cecchinato (2018 Roland Garros). He fell to
eventual champion Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the last 4.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2020, Berrettini reached the round of 16 at the US Open (l. Andrey Rublev)
and the 3rd round at Roland Garros (l. Daniel Altmaier).
• Berrettini’s best result in 2020 was reaching the quarterfinals at Rome-1000 (l. Casper Ruud). He contested
a total of 6 events in 2020 after struggling with a groin injury early in the season.
• Prior to the Australian Open Berrettini represented Italy at the ATP Cup in Melbourne, winning 3 of the 4
singles matches he contested as Italy finished runners-up to Russia. He defeated Austria’s Dominic Thiem,
France’s Gael Monfils and Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut, but fell to Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the final. He
also competed at Antalya last month, reaching the quarterfinals (l. Alexander Bublik).
• Berrettini’s defeat to Sandgren in the 2nd round here last year was his first defeat in a 5-set match. He had
won the 3 five-set matches that he had contested prior to that defeat.
• Berrettini has won 3 Tour-level singles titles – on clay at 2018 Gstaad (d. Roberto Bautista Agut) and 2019
Budapest (d. Filip Krajinovic), and on grass at 2019 Stuttgart (d. Felix Auger-Aliassime).
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notes• Berrettini reached a career-high ranking of No. 8 in November 2019 becoming the highest-ranked Italian
man since No. 8 Barazzutti in 1978. He plays here 2 places lower at No. 10.
• Berrettini made his Davis Cup debut in 2019 during Italy’s victory against India in the 2019 Qualifiers. He also
competed at the 2020 Davis Cup Finals in Madrid, losing both singles matches he contested, falling to Denis
Shapovalov and Taylor Fritz. Italy have secured a place at the next Davis Cup Finals, which have been
rearranged for 2021.
• Berrettini is coached by Vincenzo Santopadre, Marco Gulisano and Umberto Rianna.
• Qualifier MACHAC is bidding to reach the 3rd round at a Grand Slam for the first time on his Australian Open
debut.
• Machac advanced to the 2nd round after recording his first Tour-level match-win in the 1st round on
Tuesday. He was leading 67(5) 75 60 3-0 when fellow qualifier Mario Vilella Martinez retired due to a back
injury.
• Machac defeated Joao Domingues (POR) 63 61, Felipe Meligeni Alves (BRA) 61 76(4) and Mikael
Torpegaard (DEN) 62 61 in the 3 rounds of Australian Open qualifying. It was the first time he has contested
qualifying at the Australian Open, having been ranked too low to enter the qualifying event here prior to this
year.
• Machac’s only previous Grand Slam appearance came at Roland Garros last year where, as a qualifier,
he fell to No. 27 seed Taylor Fritz in 5 sets in the 1st round. It was the only 5-set match he has contested to
date. It was also the first time he had contested qualifying at any Grand Slam event.
• Machac’s best result in 2020 was winning his first Challenger title – at Koblenz (GER), where he defeated
Botic van de Zandschulp in the final. He also reached the final as a qualifier at the Bratislava Challenger
(SVK) (l. Maximilian Marterer) and the quarterfinals at the Alicante Challenger (ESP) (l. Pedro Martinez) and
the Ortisei Challenger (ITA) (l. Ilya Ivashka).
• Prior to the Australian Open Machac competed at the Murray River Open in Melbourne, falling to James
Duckworth in the 1st round.
• Machac is contesting his 3rd Tour-level event here. His only appearances at Tour-level prior to the Australian
Open came at Roland Garros last year and at the Murray River Open last week.
• Machac is bidding to defeat a Top 100 player for the first time at any level. He has lost all 3 of his previous
matches against Top 100 opposition at both Tour- and Challenger-level. The highest-ranked player he has
defeated, at any level, is No. 106 Kamil Majchrzak in the 2nd round at the Bratislava Challenger last year.
• Machac broke the Top 200 for the first time in November last year, reaching a career-high ranking of
No. 193 the same month. He plays here at No. 199.
• Machac reached a career-high junior ranking of No. 16 in January 2018 but recorded just one match-win
at the junior Grand Slam events, reaching the 2nd round of the boys' singles at the 2017 US Open (d. Zizou
Bergs, l. Sam Riffice). His only appearance in the junior event here came in 2018, when he fell to Rudolf
Molleker in the 1st round.
• Machac was nominated for Czech Republic’s Davis Cup ties against Netherlands and Bosnia and
Herzegovina in 2019 but is yet to make his debut in the competition. Czech Republic have secured a place
at the next Davis Cup Finals, which have been rearranged for 2021.
• Machac is coached by Daniel Vacek.
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notesNO. 16 FABIO FOGNINI (ITA) v SALVATORE CARUSO (ITA)
Head-to-head: first meeting
Fognini and Caruso contest the first all-Italian Australian Open men’s singles match in the Open Era. It is the
17th meeting between 2 Italian men at a Grand Slam in the Open Era – of the previous 16 all-Italian Grand
Slam men’s singles match-ups, 8 came at Roland Garros, 5 came at Wimbledon and 3 came at the US Open.
Fognini is facing a fellow Italian at a Grand Slam for the 5th time. He has a 3-1 win-loss record against Italian
players at the Grand Slams – having defeated Andreas Seppi at Roland Garros in 2017 and 2019 and Simone
Bolelli at 2018 Wimbledon, but fallen to Stefano Travaglia at the 2018 US Open. He has a 17-11 win-loss
record against Italians at Tour-level overall.
Caruso is facing a fellow Italian at a Grand Slam for the first time. He has won both of his previous meetings
with Italian players at Tour-level – defeating Thomas Fabbiano at 2019 St Petersburg and Seppi at the Great
Ocean Road Open in Melbourne last week.
Fognini and Caruso are 2 of the 4 Italian men to reach the 2nd round here, along with No. 9 seed Matteo
Berrettini and No. 31 seed Lorenzo Sonego, who play Tomas Machac and Feliciano Lopez, respectively,
today. A total of 9 Italian men began the main draw here this year – equalling the record for most Italians in
the men’s singles at the Australian Open. There were also 9 Italian men in the men’s singles here in 1992
and 2020.
FOGNINI v CARUSO
33 Age 28
17 ATP Ranking 78
9 Titles 0
58-48 Career Grand Slam Record 5-6
14-13 Australian Open Record 1-2
368-318 Career Record 17-26
139-152 Career Record - Hard 10-14
4-3 2021 Record 3-2
4-3 2021 Record - Hard 3-2
22-13 Career Five-Set Record 0-1
8 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
136-111 Career Tiebreak Record 6-9
3-2 2021 Tiebreak Record 1-2
• FOGNINI is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 4th straight year and 5th time overall. This is his 14th
appearance at the Australian Open.
• Fognini advanced to the 2nd round after defeating Pierre-Hugues Herbert 64 62 63 in the 1st round on
Tuesday.
• Fognini is making his 50th Grand Slam appearance. He is the 19th active player to reach 50 Grand Slam
appearances.
• Fognini is bidding to record his 59th Grand Slam match-win and equal Andreas Seppi in 3rd place on the
all-time list for most Grand Slam match-wins by an Italian man. Seppi fell to Pablo Cuevas in the 1st round
here on Tuesday.
Most Grand Slam match-wins by an Italian man (all-time)
Rank Player Grand Slam win-loss
1. Nicola Pietrangeli 90-39
2. Adriano Panatta 62-30
3. Andreas Seppi 59-63
4. Fabio Fognini 58-48
5. Martin Mulligan 52-32
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notes• Last year here, Fognini equalled his best Australian Open performance by reaching the round of 16. He
defeated Reilly Opelka and Jordan Thompson in 5 sets in the opening 2 rounds, and Guido Pella in straight
sets in the 3rd round, before falling to Tennys Sandgren in 4 sets in the last 16. He has also reached the
round of 16 here in 2014 (l. Novak Djokovic) and 2018 (l. Tomas Berdych).
• Fognini’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the quarterfinals at 2011 Roland Garros when he
became the first Italian man to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam since Davide Sanguinetti at 1998
Wimbledon. He gave a walkover to Djokovic in his quarterfinal match due to a thigh strain – the first time a
player had given a walkover in the quarterfinals of the men’s singles at a Grand Slam since Stefan Edberg
pulled out of his match with Thomas Muster at the 1989 Australian Open.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2020, Fognini fell to Mikhail Kukushkin in the 1st round at Roland Garros.
He did not compete at the US Open.
• Fognini recorded one match-win between the resumption of play in August and the end of the 2020
season, in a 2nd round finish at Hamburg (d. Philipp Kohlschreiber, l. Casper Ruud). He lost his opening
match at the 3 other events he contested during that time.
• Prior to the Australian Open Fognini represented Italy at the ATP Cup. He won 2 of the 4 singles matches
he contested as Italy finished runners-up to Russia, defeating France’s Benoit Paire and Spain’s Pablo
Carreno Busta but falling to Austria’s Dennis Novak and Russia’s Andrey Rublev. He also competed at
Antalya last month where, as No. 3 seed, he reached the 2nd round (d. Michael Vrbensky, l. Jeremy Chardy).
• Fognini has won 9 Tour-level singles titles, 8 of which have been on clay. His only title on hard courts came
at 2018 Los Cabos (d. Juan Martin del Potro).
• Fognini has won 10 of the last 11 five-set matches he has contested. His only defeat in a 5-set match in that
time came against Marin Cilic in the round of 16 here in 2018. He has a 3-3 win-loss record in 5-set matches
at the Australian Open and a 22-13 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Fognini broke the Top 10 for the first time in June 2019 and reached a career-high ranking of No. 9 the
following month. He plays here at No. 17.
• Fognini is an Australian Open doubles champion. He partnered Simone Bolelli to the title here in 2015,
defeating Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut to become the first all-Italian pairing to win a Grand Slam
men’s doubles title since Nicola Pietrangeli/Orlando Sirola at 1959 Roland Garros and the first all-Italian
pairing in history to win the Australian Open men’s doubles title.
• Fognini reached the quarterfinals of the boys’ singles here in 2004, falling to eventual champion Gael
Monfils. He also reached the last 8 at 2004 Junior Roland Garros. He reached a career-high junior ranking of
No. 8 in May 2004.
• Fognini has played Davis Cup for Italy since 2008 and has a 32-15 win-loss record in the competition. He
won the only match he contested in Italy’s victory over Korea, Republic in the Qualifiers last year. The result
secured Italy’s place at the 2020 Davis Cup Finals, which have been rearranged for 2021.
• Fognini is coached by Alberto Mancini.
• CARUSO is bidding to reach the 3rd round at a Grand Slam for the 3rd time and equal his best Grand Slam
result. This is his 3rd Australian Open appearance and his 7th Grand Slam overall.
• Caruso advanced to the 2nd round after defeating qualifier Henri Laaksonen 62 64 63 for his first Australian
Open match-win in the 1st round on Tuesday.
• Last year here, Caruso fell to Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets in the 1st round. On his only other main draw
appearance here, as a qualifier on his Grand Slam debut in 2018, he fell to Malek Jaziri in 5 sets in the 1st
round despite leading 2-0. It is the only 5-set match he has contested to date.
• Caruso’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the 3rd round on 2 occasions – as a qualifier at 2019 Roland
Garros, when he he defeated Jaume Munar and Gilles Simon before falling to Novak Djokovic, and as a direct
acceptance at the US Open last year, when he defeated James Duckworth and Ernesto Escobedo before
falling to Andrey Rublev.
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notes• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2020, Caruso fell to Guido Pella in the 1st round at Roland Garros.
• Caruso’s best Tour-level result in 2020 was reaching the quarterfinals at Sofia, where he defeated Dimitar
Kuzmanov and Felix Auger-Aliassime before falling to Richard Gasquet. His only other Tour-level victories
came in his 3rd round finish at the US Open and in 2nd round finishes at Pune (d. Ramkumar Ramanathan,
l. Jiri Vesely), Santiago (d. Jozef Kovalik, l. Federico Delbonis) and Rome-1000 (d. Tennys Sandgren, l. Novak
Djokovic).
• Also in 2020, Caruso reached the final at the Parma Challenger (ITA) (l. Frances Tiafoe) and the quarterfinals
at the Forli Challenger (ITA) (l. Lloyd Harris). He has won 2 titles at Challenger-level in his career.
• Prior to the Australian Open Caruso competed at the Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne, where he
reached the 3rd round, defeating Andreas Seppi and Sandgren before falling to Miomir Kecmanovic. He also
competed at Antalya last month, falling to Alexander Bublik in the 1st round.
• Caruso is bidding to defeat a Top 20 opponent at a Grand Slam for the first time on his 4th attempt. The
highest-ranked player he has defeated at a Grand Slam is No. 33 Simon in the 2nd round at Roland Garros.
He has a 1-5 win-loss record against Top 20 opposition at Tour-level overall, with his one victory coming
against No. 14 Borna Coric in the 2nd round at 2019 Umag.
• Caruso reached a career-high ranking of No. 76 in November last year. He plays here 2 places lower at
No. 78.
• Caruso is coached by Paolo Cannova.
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notesNO. 19 KAREN KHACHANOV (RUS) v RICARDAS BERANKIS (LTU)
Tour-level head-to-head: Khachanov leads 1-0
2014 Reunion Island Challenger (REU) Hard (O) R16 Berankis 75 64
2018 Montpellier Hard (I) R16 Khachanov 62 76(11)
A 2nd Tour-level meeting for Khachanov and Berankis, but their first at a Grand Slam. Berankis won their only
meeting below Tour-level in 2014.
Khachanov has lost a Grand Slam match to a player ranked as low as Berankis on one occasion – against
No. 216 Vasek Pospisil in the 1st round at 2019 US Open. The lowest-ranked player to defeat Khachanov at
the Australian Open is No. 26 Nick Kyrgios in the 3rd round last year.
KHACHANOV v BERANKIS
24 Age 30
20 ATP Ranking 73
4 Titles 0
32-16 Career Grand Slam Record 17-29
7-4 Australian Open Record 7-7
142-112 Career Record 114-126
92-77 Career Record - Hard 97-88
4-1 2021 Record 3-1
4-1 2021 Record - Hard 3-1
5-5 Career Five-Set Record 6-4
2 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 2
76-83 Career Tiebreak Record 57-59
3-4 2021 Tiebreak Record 1-0
• KHACHANOV is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 3rd time and equal his best Australian Open
result. This is his 5th Australian Open appearance and his 17th Grand Slam overall.
• Khachanov advanced to the 2nd round after defeating wild card Aleksandar Vukic 63 67(4) 76(2) 64 in the
1st round on Tuesday.
• Last year here, Khachanov equalled his best Australian Open result by reaching the 3rd round, defeating
Mario Vilella Martinez and Mikael Ymer before falling to Nick Kyrgios in 5 sets. He also reached the 3rd round
here in 2019 (l. Roberto Bautista Agut).
• Khachanov’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the quarterfinals at 2019 Roland Garros. He
defeated Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, Gregoire Barrere, Martin Klizan and Juan Martin del Potro before falling to
Dominic Thiem in straight sets.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2020, Khachanov reached the round of 16 at Roland Garros (l. Novak
Djokovic) and the 3rd round at the US Open, where he fell to Alex de Minaur in 5 sets. He has a 1-1 win-loss
record in 5-set matches at the Australian Open and a 5-5 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Khachanov’s best results in 2020 were reaching the quarterfinals at Dubai (l. Djokovic), St Petersburg
(l. Milos Raonic) and Antwerp (l. Daniel Evans).
• Khachanov warmed up for the Australian Open at the Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne where, as
No. 2 seed, he reached the semifinals (l. Jannik Sinner).
• Khachanov broke the Top 10 for the first time in June 2019 and reached a career-high ranking of No. 8 the
following month. He plays here at No. 20.
• Khachanov won the boys’ doubles silver medal alongside Andrey Rublev at the 2014 Youth Olympic Tennis
Event in Nanjing, China. The pair fell to Orlando Luz/Marcelo Zormann in the gold medal match. He fell
to Nishioka in the 1st round on his only appearance in the boys’ singles here in 2013.
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notes• Khachanov has played Davis Cup for Russia since 2013 and has a 7-7 win-loss record in singles matches in
the competition. He was part of the Russian team that reached the semifinals at the 2019 Davis Cup Finals in
Madrid, winning 3 of the 8 matches he contested at the Finals. As semifinalists in 2019, Russia have secured
a place at the 2020 Davis Cup Finals, which have been rearranged for 2021.
• Khachanov is coached by Frederik Rosengren.
• BERANKIS is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 3rd time – and for the first time since 2013 – and
equal his best Grand Slam result. This is his 8th Australian Open appearance and his 30th Grand Slam
overall.
• Berankis advanced to the 2nd round after defeating wild card Sumit Nagal 62 75 63 in the 1st round on
Tuesday.
• Last year here, Berankis reached the 2nd round, defeating Roberto Carballes Baena before falling to Sam
Querrey.
• Berankis’ best Grand Slam result is reaching the 3rd round on 3 occasions – including twice at the Australian
Open. He reached the 3rd round on his debut here in 2011 (l. David Ferrer) and again as a qualifier in 2013
(l. Andy Murray). He also reached the 3rd round at the US Open last year, where he defeated Federico Gaio
and Steve Johnson before falling to Pablo Carreno Busta.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2020, Berankis reached the 2nd round at Roland Garros (d. Hugo Dellien,
l. Novak Djokovic).
• Berankis’ best result in 2020 was reaching the semifinals at Pune (l. Jiri Vesely). In addition to his 3rd round
finish at the US Open and 2nd round finishes at the Australian Open and Roland Garros, he also reached the
2nd round as a qualifier at Cincinnati-1000 (d. Tommy Paul, l. Djokovic). He competed at one Challenger
event, reaching the 3rd round at the Monterrey Challenger (MEX) (l. Ernesto Escobedo).
• Prior to the Australian Open Berankis competed at the Murray River Open in Melbourne, where he reached
the 3rd round. He defeated Nagal and Jason Kubler before falling to Jiri Vesely.
• Berankis is bidding to defeat a Top 20 player at a Grand Slam for the first time on his 12th attempt. The
highest-ranked player he has defeated at a major is No. 21 David Nalbandian, who retired due to illness while
trailing 61 60 2-0 in the 2nd round here in 2011. He has a 5-23 win-loss record against Top 20 opposition at
Tour-level overall.
• Berankis won the only 5-set match he has contested here – against Igor Sijsling in the 1st round in 2015.
He has a 6-4 win-loss record in 5-set matches at Tour-level overall.
• Berankis became the first Lithuanian to reach a Tour-level final as a qualifier at 2012 Los Angeles. Ranked
No. 141 he lost to No. 2 seed Querrey in the final. He has reached one other Tour-level final – at 2017 Moscow
(l. Damir Dzumhur).
• Berankis is a former Top 50 player. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 50 in May 2016 but plays here
at No. 73.
• Berankis was ITF Junior World Champion in 2007 and finished the year ranked as the No. 1 junior after
winning the boys’ singles title US Open (d. Jerzy Janowicz). He also reached the semifinals of the boys’
singles at the Australian Open (l. Brydan Klein) and Wimbledon (l. Uladzimir Ignatik), and the quarterfinals at
Roland Garros (l. Ignatik) in the same year.
• Berankis has played Davis Cup for Lithuania since 2007, compiling an overall win-loss record of 35-15.
Lithuania will next play away to Greece in a World Group II tie to be played in September.
• Berankis was a member of multiple junior touring teams in 2004-07, supported by the Grand Slam
Development Fund.
• Berankis is coached by Janko Tipsarevic and Dirk Hordorff.
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notesNO. 21 ALEX DE MINAUR (AUS) v PABLO CUEVAS (URU)
Head-to-head: first meeting
De Minaur has lost Grand Slam matches to players ranked as low as No. 72 Cuevas on 2 occasions – falling
to No. 78 Grigor Dimitrov in the round of 16 at the 2019 US Open and to No. 110 Marco Cecchinato in the 1st
round at Roland Garros last year. The lowest-ranked player to have defeated De Minaur at the Australian
Open is No. 32 Sam Querrey in the 2nd round on his debut here in 2017.
Cuevas is facing an Australian player at the Australian Open for the 2nd time, having lost to Nick Kyrgios in
the 2nd round here in 2016. He has won the 3 other matches he has played against Australian players at the
Grand Slams and has a 6-2 win-loss record against Australian players at Tour-level overall.
Cuevas has a 5-5 win-loss record against players at their home Grand Slams. In addition to his 0-1 win-loss
record against Australians here, he has a 4-2 win-loss record against Frenchmen at Roland Garros and a
1-2 win-loss record against Americans at the US Open. He has never faced a British player at Wimbledon.
DE MINAUR v CUEVAS
21* Age 35
23 ATP Ranking 72
4 Titles 6
17-13 Career Grand Slam Record 23-36
4-3 Australian Open Record 4-8
82-58 Career Record 232-207
76-41 Career Record - Hard 63-89
6-2 2021 Record 3-1
6-2 2021 Record - Hard 3-1
3-3 Career Five-Set Record 5-11
0 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 1
40-30 Career Tiebreak Record 108-95
0-0 2021 Tiebreak Record 1-1
*Celebrates his 22nd birthday on Wednesday 17 February
• DE MINAUR is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 2nd time and equal his best Australian Open
performance. This is his 4th Australian Open appearance and his 14th Grand Slam overall.
• De Minaur advanced to the 2nd round after defeating Tennys Sandgren 75 61 61 in the 1st round on Tuesday.
• Last year De Minaur missed the Australian Open due to an abdominal injury. On his most recent appearance
here, in 2019, he recorded his best Australian Open performance by reaching the 3rd round, defeating
Pedro Sousa and Henri Laaksonen before falling to Rafael Nadal.
• De Minaur recorded his best Grand Slam performance by reaching the quarterfinals at the 2020 US Open,
falling to eventual champion Dominic Thiem in straight sets.
• Also in Grand Slam play in 2020, De Minaur fell to Marco Cecchinato in straight sets in the 1st round at
Roland Garros.
• De Minaur’s best results in 2020 were finishing runner-up at Antwerp (l. Ugo Humbert) and reaching the
quarterfinals at the US Open and Sofia (l. Jannik Sinner). He also won his first Tour-level doubles title at
Cincinnati-1000, partnering Pablo Carreno Busta (d. Jamie Murray/Neal Skupski).
• Prior to coming here De Minaur won his 4th Tour-level title at Antalya, winning the final when Alexander
Bublik retired due to a right ankle injury. He also represented Australia at the ATP Cup last week, but lost
both matches he contested, falling to Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut and Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas.
• De Minaur is one of 8 Australian men through to the 2nd round from the 13 who started this year’s Australian
Open main draw – the most through to the 2nd round here since 2003, when there were also 8. He is looking
to become the first native champion to win the Australian Open men’s singles title since Mark Edmondson in
1976.
2021 Australian Open day 4 men’s match notesYou can also read
