The eighth-seeded Taylor Fritz and 12th-seeded Alexander Zverev lost their 2nd round matches at the 2023 Australian Open.
The two seeded players were set to meet in the fourth round, as they both wanted to start their season with an impressive performance in Melbourne. However, because of their losses, many unseeded players in their part of the draw will now have a chance to reach the quarterfinals, after also the second-seeded Casper Ruud lost earlier today.
Both matches started and ended around the same time, but Fritz was the first player to step on the court as he took on home wild-card Alexei Popyrin in the John Cain Arena. The Australian previously recorded a sensational five-set win over Chun Hsin Tseng in the first round, and he wanted to do the same also against the American.
Fritz started the match well. After his opponent couldn't use the only break point of the first set, he won the tie-break and got an early lead in the match.
However, Popyrin was a better player in the next two sets and he turned the match around. Fritz didn't have a single break point in the first three sets and the Australian used that to his advantage as he won the second-set tie-break and with the first break of the match, he won also the third set 6-4.
Popyrin had the first match point of the match in the tie-break of the fourth set, but he couldn't use his chance and Fritz forced a decider. The American had one break point in the first game, but he couldn't break inspired Popyrin, who was heavily supported by the home crowd. The Australian eventually won the match in four hours and two minutes, 6-7(4), 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-2.
Alexander Zverev, who played only his fourth ATP match since coming back from an injury, took on Michael Mmoh, who previously came back from 0-2 against Laurent Lokoli in the first round.
Similar to the eighth-seeded American, also the German started the match well. He won the first set tie-break and wanted to extend his advantage also in the second set.
But Mmoh was the more effective player in the remainder of the match. He used his chances and after three hours and 28 minutes, the American booked his third-round spot at the 2023 Australian Open by knocking out Zverev, winning 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
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