Two-time finalist Daniil Medvedev suffered a shock third-round defeat by American Sebastian Korda at the Australian Open as top players continue to fall in the men’s draw.
Former US Open champion and seventh seed Medvedev lost 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-4) to 22-year-old Korda.
Top two seeds Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud are already out, although third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas won on Friday.
Fourth seed Novak Djokovic will play his third-round match on Saturday.
Russia’s Medvedev had reached the final at the Australian Open for the past two years but could not match Korda’s level on Rod Laver Arena.
“I think it was a top match where he was just better than me,” said Medvedev, who lost his last four matches of 2022.
“I won many matches like this. Right now, I’m struggling a little bit to win these kind of matches against opponents that can play a good level.
“That’s what I have to find back.”
Korda is through to the fourth round in Melbourne for the first time, following the footsteps of his father, Petr, who won the tournament in 1998.
His mother Regina Rajchrtova was also a professional tennis player, while his sisters Jessica and Nelly are LPGA golfers.
“My family loves playing Australia, we’ve got a lot of awesome moments here,” said Korda, who is ranked 31st in the world.
“Both of my sisters have won the Australian Open in women’s golf. My mum’s career-high [ranking] was 24, my dad was two, Nelly was one and Jessica was six so I’m definitely the worst athlete in the family so far.”
Korda will play Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in the fourth round after the 10th seed reached that stage of the tournament for the first time with a hard-fought 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 1-6 4-6 6-3 victory over Denis Shapovalov of Canada.
Earlier on Friday, Tsitsipas continued his strong start to the tournament with a straight-set win over Tallon Griekspoor to reach the fourth round.
The Greek is yet to drop a set in Melbourne as he bids for his first Grand Slam title and beat the 63rd-ranked Dutchman 6-2 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.
He will face Jannik Sinner next after the Italian fought back from two sets down to beat Marton Fucsovics.
Sinner, seeded 15th, came through 4-6 4-6 6-1 6-2 6-0 against Hungary’s Fucsovics.
It is the first time in his career that he has come back from two sets down to win at a Grand Slam.
Sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Francisco Cerundolo 6-1 3-6 6-1 6-4 to set up a meeting with rising Czech star Jiri Lehecka, who beat Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
BBC
