2019 AUSTRALIAN OPEN
DAY 3 MEN’S NOTES
Wednesday 16 January
2nd Round Bottom Half

Featured matches

No. 2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) v Matthew Ebden (AUS)

No. 3 Roger Federer (SUI) v (Q) Daniel Evans (GBR)

No. 5 Kevin Anderson (RSA) v Frances Tiafoe (USA)

No. 6 Marin Cilic (CRO) v Mackenzie McDonald (USA)

No. 14 Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) v (Q) Viktor Troicki (SRB)

No. 20 Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) v Pablo Cuevas (URU)

No. 22 Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) v John Millman (AUS)

No. 27 Alex de Minaur (AUS) v (Q) Henri Laaksonen (SUI)

No. 30 Gael Monfils (FRA) v Taylor Fritz (USA)

Jordan Thompson (AUS) v Andreas Seppi (ITA)

On court today…
• World No. 2 Rafael Nadal headlines the action on Rod Laver Arena today, taking on an Australian for the 2nd straight round. Matthew Ebden will aim to join Lleyton Hewitt, Nick Kyrgios and Chris Guccione on the list of Australians to have beaten Nadal. He will have the weight of history against him when he plays the 17-time Grand Slam champion – and the Spaniard is aiming for another milestone tonight. Should he record his 57th match-win in Melbourne, Nadal will claim sole ownership of 3rd place on the list for most victories here in the Open Era, ahead of Stefan Edberg.

• Defending champion Roger Federer faces British qualifier Daniel Evans in the day match on Rod Laver Arena today and will be looking to continue his strong form against players that have battled through the qualifying stages. Federer has lost just one of his 27 meetings with qualifiers at the Grand Slams – to Mario Ancic at 2002 Wimbledon. He has also not lost to a player ranked as low as No. 189 Evans since falling to No. 191 James Sekulov in the 1st round at 2000 Indianapolis.

• Stefanos Tsitsipas became the first Greek man to win a match at the Australian Open by defeating Matteo Berrettini in the opening round and will look to extend his campaign in Melbourne by at least one more round when he faces qualifier Viktor Troicki in the first match on Court 3. Tsitsipas will be wary of Troicki – the Serb may be ranked at No. 200 but he has reached the 3rd round here on 4 previous occasions and has won 4 straight matches to progress through qualifying and into the 2nd round.

• Should Grigor Dimitrov win his maiden Grand Slam title here, on his 34th attempt, he will be joint-3rd with Petr Korda on the Open era list for most Grand Slam appearances before winning a first Grand Slam title. Standing in his immediate way is No. 94 Pablo Cuevas – the pair meet on Court 3 today – a player who has the chance to make some history of his own. Cuevas is bidding to become the first Uruguayan player – man or woman – to reach the 3rd round at the Australian Open.

NO. 2 RAFAEL NADAL (ESP) v MATTHEW EBDEN (AUS)
Head-to-head: Nadal leads 1-0
2011 Queen’s Grass (O) R32 Nadal 64 64

Ebden is bidding to become the 4th Australian player to defeat Nadal – after Lleyton Hewitt (4 match-wins against Nadal), Nick Kyrgios (2) and Chris Guccione, who recorded his only victory when Nadal retired due to a groin injury at 2007 Sydney. Nadal has a 24-7 win-loss record against Australians at Tour-level overall.

Nadal’s victory over James Duckworth in the 1st round here this year was his 5th victory against an Australian player at the Australian Open. The only Australian player to defeat Nadal here is Hewitt – in the 3rd round in 2004 and the round of 16 in 2005.

Nadal has a 25-4 win-loss record against players at their home Grand Slams – in addition to his 5-2 win-loss record against Australians here, he has an 8-0 win-loss record against Frenchmen at Roland Garros, a 5-0 win-loss record against Brits at Wimbledon and a 7-2 win-loss record against Americans at the US Open.

NADAL v EBDEN
32 Age 31
2 ATP Ranking 48
80 Titles 0
248-36 Career Grand Slam Record 10-19
56-12 Australian Open Record 4-7
919-189 Career Record 69-107
436-128 Career Record – Hard 50-76
1-0 2019 Record 1-1
1-0 2019 Record – Hard 1-1
21-12 Career Five-Set Record 2-3
3 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
226-145 Career Tiebreak Record 24-37
0-0 2019 Tiebreak Record 0-0

• 2009 Australian Open champion NADAL is bidding reach the 3nd round at the Australian Open for the 13th time. He has never lost in the 2nd round here.
• Nadal is bidding to record his 57th Australian Open match-win and claim sole ownership of 3rd place on the list for most Australian Open match-wins in the Open Era, ahead of Stefan Edberg.
Most Australian Open match-wins (Open Era) Player Australian Open win-loss

Roger Federer
95-13
Novak Djokovic
62-8
Stefan Edberg
Rafael Nadal
56-10
56-12
Andre Agassi
48-5
Ivan Lendl
48-10
Andy Murray
48-13

• Nadal progressed to the 2nd round after defeating wild card James Duckworth 64 63 75 in the 1st round on Monday. This is his 14th appearance at the Australian Open and his 55th Grand Slam overall.
• 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 3)
• Nadal’s best Australian Open performance is winning the title in 2009 (d. Roger Federer). He also reached the final in 2012, losing to Novak Djokovic in the longest men’s Grand Slam final on record at 5 hours 53 minutes, 2014 (l. Stan Wawrinka) and 2017 (l. Federer).
2019 Australian Open day 3 men’s match notes
• Nadal is a 17-time Grand Slam champion. In addition to his title here in 2009, he has 11 titles at Roland Garros, 3 US Open titles and 2 Wimbledon titles.
• Last year here, Nadal reached the quarterfinals but retired due to a right leg injury during the 5th set against Marin Cilic.
• Elsewhere at Grand Slams in 2018, Nadal won his 17th major title at Roland Garros (d. Dominic Thiem) and reached the semifinals at Wimbledon (l. Djokovic) and the US Open, where he retired due to a right knee injury after the 2nd set of his match against Juan Martin del Potro. At Roland Garros he became the first man in history to win 11 titles at a major – and the 2nd player in history to achieve the feat after Margaret Court, who won 11 Australian women’s singles titles.
• Also in 2018, Nadal won the titles at Toronto-1000 (d. Stefanos Tsitsipas), Rome-1000 (d. Alexander Zverev), Barcelona (d. Tsitsipas) and Monte Carlo-1000 (d. Kei Nishikori). He has won a total of 80 Tour-level titles.
• Prior to coming here Nadal withdrew from Brisbane with a thigh strain. He is contesting his first event here since retiring in the semifinals at the US Open last year, having undergone right ankle surgery in November.
• Nadal and Djokovic are the only 2 players in contention for the world No. 1 ranking when the new rankings are released on Monday 28 January. Nadal can only return to No. 1 if he wins the title and Djokovic loses prior to the round of 16.
• Nadal has played Davis Cup for Spain since 2004. He has a 24-1 win-loss record in Davis Cup singles rubbers and a 29-5 win-loss record in the competition overall. By reaching the semifinals in 2018, Spain has secured a place in the 2019 Davis Cup finals in Madrid on 18-24 November.
• Nadal is coached by Carlos Moya and Francisco Roig. His fitness trainer is Rafael Maymo. He was previously coached by his uncle, Toni, from the age of 4 through to the end of the 2017 season.
• EBDEN is bidding to reach the 3rd round here and equal his best Grand Slam result. This is his 8th Australian Open and his 20th Grand Slam overall.
• Ebden progressed to the 2nd round after defeating Jan-Lennard Struff 16 64 63 64 for his 50th Tour-level hard court match-win in the 1st round on Monday.
• By reaching the 2nd round here for the 4th time, Ebden has equalled his best Australian Open result. He also reached the 2nd round here in 2012 (d. Joao Souza, l. Kei Nishikori), 2014 (d. Nicolas Mahut, l. Vasek Pospisil) and last year (d. John Isner, l. Alexandr Dolgopolov).
• Ebden’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the 3rd round at 2018 Wimbledon. He defeated David Goffin and Stephane Robert before falling to Gilles Simon in 4 sets.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018, Ebden reached the 2nd round at the US Open (d. Filip Krajinovic, l. Philipp Kohlschreiber) but fell to Thomas Fabbiano in the 1st round at Roland Garros.
• Ebden’s best results in 2018 were reaching the semifinals at ’s-Hertogenbosch (l. Jeremy Chardy) and Atlanta (l. Isner). He also reached the quarterfinals at Halle (l. Roger Federer), Chengdu (l. Fabio Fognini) and Shanghai-1000 (l. Borna Coric).
• Ebden warmed up for the Australian Open at Sydney, where he fell to Guido Andreozzi in the 1st round. He also represented Australia at the Hopman Cup, winning one of his 3 singles matches – defeating Lucas Pouille but falling to David Ferrer and Alexander Zverev.
2019 Australian Open day 3 men’s match notes
• Ebden is bidding to defeat a Top 5 player for the first time on his 6th attempt. The highest-ranked player he has defeated is No. 7 Dominic Thiem in the 2nd round at 2018 Shanghai-1000. The highest-ranked player he has defeated at a Grand Slam is No. 9 Goffin in the 1st round at Wimbledon last year.
• Ebden is bidding to record a 7th Tour-level match-win against a lefthanded player. He won 2 of his 3 matches against lefthanded opposition last year and has a 6-7 win-loss record against lefthanders at Tour-level overall.
• Ebden is one of 12 Australian men who started this year’s Australian Open main draw – the most since 2001 when there were also 12. He is looking to become the first native champion to win the Australian Open men’s singles title since Mark Edmondson in 1976.
• Ebden reached a career-high ranking of No. 39 in October last year, having broken the Top 50 for the first time 3 months earlier. He plays here at No. 48.
• Ebden has played Davis Cup for Australia since 2012 and has a 5-1 overall win-loss record in the competition. Australia will play Bosnia/Herzegovina in the Davis Cup qualifiers in Adelaide on 1-2 February.
• Ebden is coached by Liam Smith.

NO. 3 ROGER FEDERER (SUI) v DANIEL EVANS (GBR)
Tour-level head-to-head: Federer leads 1-0
2016 Wimbledon Grass (O) R32 Federer 64 62 62
2017 Hopman Cup Hard (I) R1 Federer 63 64

A 2nd Tour-level meeting for the pair. Federer won their previous Tour-level meeting, at 2016 Wimbledon, in straight sets. He also defeated Evans in straight sets at the Hopman Cup 2 years ago.

Federer has not lost to a player ranked as low as No. 189 Evans since falling to No. 191 James Sekulov in the 1st round at 2000 Indianapolis. He has never lost to a player ranked as low as Evans at a Grand Slam – the lowest-ranked player to defeat Federer at a major is No. 154 Mario Ancic in the 1st round at 2002 Wimbledon. The lowest-ranked player to defeat Federer at the Australian Open is No. 54 Arnaud Clement in the 3rd round in 2000.
Federer has won 26 of his 27 previous meetings with qualifiers at the Grand Slams. The only qualifier to defeat Federer at a major is Ancic at 2002 Wimbledon. Federer has a 91-12 win-loss record against qualifiers at Tour-level overall.

FEDERER v EVANS
37 Age 28
3 ATP Ranking 189
99 Titles 0
340-54 Career Grand Slam Record 10-9
95-13 Australian Open Record 4-2
1181-260 Career Record 36-47
741-147 Career Record – Hard 25-28
1-0 2019 Record 1-0
1-0 2019 Record – Hard 1-0
30-21 Career Five-Set Record 2-4
10 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
435-236 Career Tiebreak Record 23-23
0-0 2019 Tiebreak Record 1-0

• Two-time defending champion FEDERER is bidding to maintain his record of having always reached the 3rd round here.
• Federer has not lost in the 2nd round at a Grand Slam since 2013 Wimbledon, when he fell to Sergiy Stakhovsky in 4 sets. He holds the record for most consecutive 3rd round appearances at the Australian Open with 19, ahead of Stefan Edberg (11).
• Federer is bidding to record his 96th Australian Open match-win, having recorded his 95th match-win here in the 1st round. He has also won 95 matches at Wimbledon – compared to 85 match-wins at the US Open and 65 match-wins at Roland Garros.
• Federer progressed to the 2nd round here after defeating Denis Istomin 63 64 64 in the 1st round on Monday.
• Last year here, Federer won his 6th Australian Open title, defeating Marin Cilic in 5 sets in the final. He also won the title here in 2004 (d. Marat Safin), 2006 (d. Marcos Baghdatis), 2007 (d. Fernando Gonzalez), 2010 (d. Andy Murray) and 2017 (d. Rafael Nadal).
• Federer is bidding to win a 7th Australian Open title and claim sole ownership of the all-time record for most Australian men’s singles titles, ahead of Novak Djokovic and Roy Emerson. (see Preview page 2)
• Federer is also bidding to win his 21st Grand Slam title and close the gap on Steffi Graf in 3rd place on the all-time list for Grand Slam singles titles. By winning his 20th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open last year, Federer took sole ownership of 4th place on the list, ahead of Helen Wills Moody. Margaret Court, Serena Williams and Graf are the only other players aside from Federer to have won 20 or more Grand Slams.

• Federer is bidding to become the first man in history to win at least 7 titles at 2 different Grand Slam events. In addition to his 6 titles here, he has won 8 Wimbledon titles, 5 US Open titles and one Roland Garros title. (see Preview page 2)
• Federer is looking to become the first man to win 5 Grand Slam titles after turning 30. By winning his 4th major title since turning 30 here last year, Federer joined Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall at the top of the list for most Grand Slam titles won after turning 30. (see Preview page 4)
• Federer is also bidding to become the 2nd player in history to win 100 Tour-level titles, after Jimmy Connors. Federer won the 99th Tour-level title of his career at 2018 Basel.
• Federer is making his 20th Australian Open appearance, equalling Lleyton Hewitt’s record for most Australian Open appearances. He is contesting his 75th Grand Slam event, extending his record for most Grand Slams played.
• Elsewhere at Grand Slams in 2018, Federer reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, where he surrendered a 2-0 lead for the 5th time in his career against Kevin Anderson, and the round of 16 at the US Open (l. John Millman). He withdrew from Roland Garros for the 3rd consecutive year to focus on the grass court season.
• Also in 2018, Federer won the titles at Rotterdam (d. Grigor Dimitrov), Stuttgart (d. Milos Raonic) and Basel (d. Marius Copil). He also finished runner-up at Indian Wells-1000 (l. Juan Martin del Potro), Halle (l. Borna Coric) and Cincinnati-1000 (l. Djokovic).
• Federer warmed up for the Australian Open by winning the Hopman Cup for Switzerland alongside Belinda Bencic. He won all 4 of the singles matches he contested at the event, defeating Cameron Norrie, Frances Tiafoe, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev.
• Federer has won 6 of his last 7 five-set matches at the Australian Open. His only defeat during that period came against Andy Murray in the semifinals in 2013. He has a 9-5 win-loss record in five-set matches here and a 30-21 win-loss record overall.
• Federer is coached by 2006 Australian Open quarterfinalist Ivan Ljubicic, and Severin Luthi.
• EVANS is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 2nd time. This is his 3rd Australian Open and his 10th Grand Slam overall.
• Evans progressed to 2nd round after defeating qualifier Tatsuma Ito 75 61 76(8) in the 1st round on Monday.
• Evans defeated No. 23 seed Rogerio Dutra Silva (BRA) 62 63, Jurij Rodionov (AUT) 64 36 75 and No. 4 seed Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) 63 63 in the 3 rounds of qualifying here. He is making his first appearance in the main draw at a Grand Slam since 2017 Roland Garros.
• In 2017, on his last appearance here, Evans recorded his best Grand Slam result by reaching the round of 16. He defeated Facundo Bagnis, Marin Cilic and Bernard Tomic before falling to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 4 sets.
• Evans is making his first Tour-level appearance since Great Britain’s victory against Uzbekistan in the 2018 Davis Cup World Group play-offs where he defeated Denis Istomin in 5 sets in the first rubber. He contested just one other Tour-level event in 2018 – at Queen’s, where he fell to Adrian Mannarino in the 1st round – having returned from a one year doping ban in April last year.

• Evans’ best result in 2018 was winning the title as a qualifier at the Vancouver Challenger (CAN) (d. Jason Kubler). He also reached the final at the Nottingham Challenger (GBR) (l. Alex de Minaur) and the semifinals at the Surbiton Challenger (GBR) (l. Jeremy Chardy). He attempted to qualify at Wimbledon, but fell to Matthias Bachinger in the 2nd round of qualifying.
• Prior to coming here Evans competed at the Playford Challenger (AUS) but fell to Kamil Majchrzak in the 1st round.
2019 Australian Open day 3 men’s match notes
• Evans is bidding to defeat a Top 5 player for the first time on his 4th attempt. The highest-ranked player he has defeated is No. 7 Cilic in the 2nd round here in 2017.
• Evans has a 2-4 win-loss record in 5-set matches – losing his only 5-set match at a Grand Slam to Wawrinka at the 2016 US Open despite holding a match point in the 4th set. His other 5 five-set matches have come in Davis Cup, with his only 5-set match-wins coming against Martin Klizan in Great Britain’s victory over Slovakia in the Europe/Africa Group I first round in 2012 and against Istomin in the World Group play-offs last year.
• Evans is a former Top 50 player. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 41 in March 2017. He returned to the tour unranked in April last year, but plays here at No. 189.
• Evans has played Davis Cup since 2009 and has a 7-14 overall win-loss record in the competition. Great Britain has been awarded a wild card for the Davis Cup finals in Madrid on 18-24 November.
• Evans is coached by David Felgate.

NO. 5 KEVIN ANDERSON (RSA) v FRANCES TIAFOE (USA)
Head-to-head: Anderson leads 3-0
2018 New York Hard (I) QF Anderson 63 57 64
2018 Miami-1000 Hard (O) R16 Anderson 76(3) 64
2018 Tokyo Hard (l) R16 Anderson 63 36 62

A 4th meeting for the 2 players in 12 months, having met for the first time less than a year ago. It is their first meeting at a Grand Slam.

ANDERSON v TIAFOE

32 Age 20*
6 ATP Ranking 39
6 Titles 1
69-38 Career Grand Slam Record 6-11
12-10 Australian Open Record 2-2
323-220 Career Record 37-54
232-147 Career Record – Hard 26-38
5-0 2019 Record 1-1
5-0 2019 Record – Hard 1-1
14-10 Career Five-Set Record 0-5
3 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
192-157 Career Tiebreak Record 23-31
5-2 2019 Tiebreak Record 1-1
*Turns 21 on 20 January

• ANDERSON is bidding to reach the 3rd round at the Australian Open for the first time since 2015 and the 5th time overall.
• Anderson advanced to the 2nd round here after defeating Adrian Mannarino 63 57 62 61 on Monday.
• Last year here, Anderson fell in the 1st round, losing to Kyle Edmund in 5 sets. He has a 3-2 win-loss record in 5-set matches at the Australian Open and a 14-10 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Anderson’s best Australian Open result is reaching the round of 16 here on 3 occasions – falling to Tomas Berdych in both 2013 and 2014, and to Rafael Nadal in 2015. This is his 11th Australian Open appearance and his 39th Grand Slam overall.
• Anderson’s best Grand Slam result is finishing runner-up at the 2017 US Open (l. Nadal), where he became the first South African to reach a Grand Slam singles final since Kevin Curren at the 1984 Australian Open and the oldest first-time finalist at a major since Niki Pilic at 1973 Roland Garros. He also reached the final at Wimbledon last year (l. Novak Djokovic), having defeated John Isner in the semifinals in the 2nd-longest singles match in history, winning 76(6) 67(5) 67(9) 64 26-24 in 6 hours 36 minutes.
• Elsewhere in Grand Slam play in 2018, Anderson reached the round of 16 at both Roland Garros, where he fell to Diego Schwartzman in 5 sets, and at the US Open (l. Dominic Thiem).
• Anderson’s best results in 2018 were winning the titles at New York (d. Sam Querrey) and Vienna (d. Kei Nishikori). He also reached the finals at Pune (l. Gilles Simon), Acapulco (l. Juan Martin del Potro) and Wimbledon.
• Anderson warmed up for the Australian Open by winning his 6th Tour-level title at Pune, defeating Ivo Karlovic in the final. He also played a match at the Kooyong Classic exhibition event, losing to Marin Cilic in a match tiebreak.
• Anderson reached a career-high ranking of No. 5 after reaching the final at Wimbledon last year. He plays here one place lower at No. 6.
• Anderson received travel grants from the ITF Grand Slam Development Fund to play junior events in 2004.
2019 Australian Open day 3 men’s match notes
• Anderson is coached by Brad Stine.
• TIAFOE is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the first time and equal his best Grand Slam performance.
• Tiafoe advanced to the 2rd round after defeating qualifier Prajnesh Gunneswaran 76(7) 63 63 on Monday. This is his 3rd Australian Open appearance and his 12th Grand Slam overall.
• By reaching the 2nd round here, Tiafoe has equalled his best Australian Open result. He also reached the 2nd round here on his Australian debut as a qualifier in 2017 (d. Mikhail Kukushkin, l. Alexander Zverev).
• Tiafoe’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the 3rd round at Wimbledon last year, beating Fernando Verdasco and Julien Benneteau before falling to Karen Khachanov in 5 sets. Tiafoe has lost all 5 of the 5-set matches he has contested but has not contested a 5-set match at the Australian Open.
• Last year here, Tiafoe fell to Juan Martin del Potro in the 1st round.
• Elsewhere in Grand Slam play in 2018, Tiafoe reached the 2nd round at the US Open (d. Adrian Mannarino, l. Alex de Minaur), but fell in the 1st round at Roland Garros (l. Sam Querrey).
• Tiafoe’s best result in 2018 was winning his first Tour-level title at Delray Beach (d. Peter Gojowczyk). He also reached the final at Estoril (l. Joao Sousa) and the quarterfinals New York (l. today’s opponent) and Queen’s (l. Jeremy Chardy).
• Prior to coming here Tiafoe competed at Sydney, where he fell to John Millman in the 1st round. He also represented USA at the Hopman Cup where he lost all 3 of his singles matches, falling to Stefanos Tsitsipas, Roger Federer and Cameron Norrie.
• Tiafoe is bidding to end a 6-match losing streak against Top 10 players. He has not defeated at Top 10 opponent since defeating No. 10 Del Potro in the 2nd round at 2018 Delray Beach. He has a 2-10 win-loss record against Top 10 players overall and his career-best victory came against No. 7 Alexander Zverev in the 1st round at 2017 Cincinnati-1000.
• Tiafoe reached career-high ranking of No. 38 in August 2018. He plays here one place lower at No. 39.
• Tiafoe had a successful junior career. Aged just 15, he won the 2013 Orange Bowl (d. Stefan Kozlov), becoming the youngest boys’ singles winner in the event’s history. He also reached the boys’ singles semifinals at the 2014 US Open (l. Quentin Halys) and achieved a career-high junior ranking of No. 2. He never competed in the junior event here.
• Tiafoe travel coach and hitting partner is Zack Evenden.
2019 Australian Open day 3 men’s match notes

NO. 6 MARIN CILIC (CRO) v MACKENZIE MCDONALD (USA)
Head-to-head: first meeting
Cilic has not lost an Australian Open match to a player ranked as low as No. 81 McDonald since making his Grand Slam debut as a qualifier here in 2007, when he fell to No. 126 Ilija Bozoljac in the 1st round.

CILIC v MCDONALD
30 Age 23
7 ATP Ranking 81
18 Titles 0
112-42 Career Grand Slam Record 5-4
27-10 Australian Open Record 2-1
480-252 Career Record 10-18
293-150 Career Record – Hard 5-14
1-0 2019 Record 1-1
1-0 2019 Record – Hard 1-1
29-15 Career Five-Set Record 1-3
6 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
184-161 Career Tiebreak Record 6-3
1-0 2019 Tiebreak Record 0-0

• CILIC is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 8th time. This is his 11th Australian Open appearance and his 45th Grand Slam appearance overall.
• Cilic progressed to the 2nd round here for the 10th time after defeating Bernard Tomic 62 64 76(3) in the 1st round on Monday.
• Cilic has lost in the 2nd round here twice before – in 2014 (d. Marcel Granollers, l. Gilles Simon) and 2017 (d. Jerzy Janowicz, l. Daniel Evans).
• Last year here Cilic reached his first Australian Open final. He defeated No. 1 seed Rafael Nadal in 5 sets in the quarterfinals but fell to No. 2 seed and defending champion Roger Federer in the final, also in 5 sets. He has a 7-3 win-loss record in 5-set matches at the Australian Open and a 29-15 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Elsewhere in Grand Slam play in 2018, Cilic reached the quarterfinals at both Roland Garros (l. Juan Martin del Potro) and the US Open (l. Kei Nishikori), but fell to Guido Pella in the 2nd round at Wimbledon.
• Cilic won his first major title at the 2014 US Open, defeating Nishikori in the final. He was the first Croatian to win a Grand Slam title since Goran Ivanisevic at 2001 Wimbledon. In addition to his appearance in the final here last year, he also reached the final at 2017 Wimbledon (l. Federer). He was one of the 6 Grand Slam champions to start this year’s men’s main draw.
• Cilic’s best result in 2018 was winning his 18th Tour-level title at Queen’s, where he saved a match point before defeating Novak Djokovic in the final. At 2 hours 57 minutes, it was the longest final in the tournament’s history. In addition to his runner-up finish here, he also reached the semifinals at Pune (l. Gilles Simon), Rome-1000 (l. Alexander Zverev) and Cincinnati-1000 (l. Djokovic).
• Cilic reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 in January last year following his runner-up finish here. He plays here at No. 7.
• Cilic reached the quarterfinals of the boys’ singles at the 2005 Australian Open (l. Donald Young). He finished the year at No. 2 in the ITF Junior Rankings behind Young after winning Junior Roland Garros (d. Antal van der Duim) and reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the US Open.
• Cilic became a Davis Cup champion after leading Croatia to the title in 2018. He won 6 of the 7 rubbers he contested during the season and defeated Lucas Pouille in the 4th rubber of the Final to seal Croatia’s 2nd Davis Cup title. He holds the record for the most Davis Cup singles match-wins by a Croatian player. Croatia will compete in the 2019 Davis Cup finals in Madrid on 18-24 November.
2019 Australian Open day 3 men’s match notes
• Cilic is coached by Ivan Cinkus. His fitness trainer is Slaven Hrvoj and his physiotherapists are Stijepo Jaraj and Robert Prusac.
• MCDONALD is bidding to reach 3rd round here for the first time. This is his 2nd appearance here and his 5th Grand Slam overall.
• McDonald progressed to the 2nd round by defeating Andrey Rublev 64 64 26 64 in the 1st round on Monday.
• By reaching the 2nd round here this year, McDonald has equalled his best Australian Open result. He also reached the 2nd round here as a qualifier on his Australian Open debut, defeating Elias Ymer in the 1st round before falling to No. 3 seed Grigor Dimitrov in 5 sets.
• McDonald’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the round of 16 at Wimbledon last year, when he defeated Ricardas Berankis, Nicolas Jarry and Guido Pella before falling to Milos Raonic.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018, McDonald fell to Robin Haase in the 1st round at the US Open. He did not attempt to qualify at Roland Garros.
• McDonald’s best results in 2018 were reaching the quarterfinals of ’s-Hertogenbosch (l. Jeremy Chardy) and the round of 16 at Wimbledon. He also won the title at the Seoul Challenger (KOR) (d. Jordan Thompson) and reached the final at the Dallas Challenger (USA) (l. Kei Nishikori).
• McDonald warmed up for the Australian Open as a qualifier at Auckland, where he fell to Matteo Berrettini in the 1st round.
• McDonald is bidding to defeat a Top 10 player for the first time on his 3rd attempt. The highest-ranked player he has defeated is No. 20 Milos Raonic in the 1st round at 2018 Shanghai-1000. The highest-ranked player he has defeated at a Grand Slam is No. 66 Nicolas Jarry in the 2nd round at 2018 Wimbledon.
• McDonald has improved his year-end ranking every year since 2013, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 76 in November 2018. He plays here 5 places lower at No. 81.
• He lost the only 5-set match he has contested at the Australian Open – to Dimitrov in the 2nd round last year. He has a 1-3 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• McDonald is a former Junior Australian Open semifinalist. As a qualifier, he reached the last 4 of the boys’ singles in 2012, losing to Felip Peliwo.
• McDonald played college tennis at UCLA from 2014-16, winning the 2016 NCAA singles and doubles titles before turning professional.
• McDonald is coached by Mat Cloer and Michael Russell.
2019 Australian Open day 3 men’s match notes

NO. 14 STEFANOS TSITSIPAS (GRE) v (Q) VIKTOR TROICKI (SRB)
Head-to-head: first meeting

TSITSIPAS v TROICKI
20 Age 32
15 ATP Ranking 200
1 Titles 3
6-6 Career Grand Slam Record 50-37
1-1 Australian Open Record 13-10
47-38 Career Record 289-263
30-26 Career Record – Hard 190-167
2-1 2019 Record 1-0
2-1 2019 Record – Hard 1-0
1-0 Career Five-Set Record 21-14
0 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 6
21-25 Career Tiebreak Record 110-110
1-1 2019 Tiebreak Record 0-0

• TSITSIPAS is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the first time. This is his 2nd Australian Open appearance and his 7th Grand Slam overall.
• Tsitsipas advanced to the 2nd round after defeating Matteo Berrettini 67(3) 64 63 76(4) in the 1st round on Monday to become the first Greek man to win a match at the Australian Open.
• Last year here, on his Australian Open debut, Tsitsipas fell to Denis Shapovalov in the 1st round.
• Tsitsipas’ best Grand Slam result is reaching the round of 16 at 2018 Wimbledon, when he became the first Greek player – man or woman – to reach the round of 16 at a major since Eleni Daniilidou reached the last 16 in the women’s singles at the 2004 US Open. He also became just the 4th Greek man in history to reach the round of 16 at a major and the first since Nicky Kalogeropoulos at 1964 Wimbledon.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018, Tsitsipas reached the 2nd round at both Roland Garros, where he recorded his first Grand Slam match-win by defeating Carlos Taberner before falling to Dominic Thiem, and the US Open (d. Tommy Robredo, l. Daniil Medvedev).
• Tsitsipas’ best result in 2018 was winning the title at Stockholm (d. Ernests Gulbis), where he became the first Greek player to win a Tour-level title. He also finished runner-up at Barcelona and Toronto-1000, losing to Rafael Nadal on both occasions, and reached the semifinals at Estoril (l. Joao Sousa) and Washington (l. Alexander Zverev). He also won the title at the 2018 NextGen ATP Finals in Milan (d. Alex de Minaur).
• Prior to coming here, Tsitsipas reached the quarterfinals as top seed at Sydney (l. Andreas Seppi). He also competed for Greece at the Hopman Cup, winning one of his 3 singles matches – he defeated Frances Tiafoe, but fell to Cameron Norrie and Roger Federer.
• Tsitsipas is seeded No. 14 here – his highest Grand Slam seeding. He was seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time at Wimbledon last year.
• Tsitsipas broke the Top 20, at No. 15, for the first time after reaching the final at Toronto-1000 in August last year. He plays here at the same ranking.
• At 20 years 168 days, Tsitsipas is the 4th-youngest man to reach the 2nd round of the men’s singles here this year. He is one of 17 men aged 21 or younger to start the main draw. (NB Age calculated at the end of the tournament)
• 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).
2019 Australian Open day 3 men’s match notes
• Tsitsipas is coached by his father, Apostolos Tsitsipas.
• Qualifier TROICKI is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 5th time and equal his best Australian Open result. This is his 11th Australian Open appearance and his 38th Grand Slam overall.
• Troicki advanced to the 2nd round here for the 5th straight year after defeating Roberto Carballes Baena 61 16 26 61 64 in the 1st round on Monday. The victory extended his winning streak in 5-set matches to 7 matches. He has a 6-2 win-loss record in 5-set matches here and a 21-14 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Troicki defeated Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 62 64, No. 31 seed Lukas Rosol (CZE) 76(3) 61 and Darian King (BAR) 62 36 63 in the 3 rounds of qualifying here. It was the first time he has had to contest Australian Open qualifying since 2008.
• Troicki’s best Australian Open result is reaching the 3rd round here on 4 occasions – in 2011 (l. Novak Djokovic), 2015 (l. Tomas Berdych), 2016 (l. Milos Raonic) and 2017 (l. Stan Wawrinka).
• Troicki’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the round of 16 on 5 occasions – at Roland Garros in 2011 (l. Andy Murray), 2013 (l. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga) and 2016 (l. Stan Wawrinka), and at Wimbledon in 2012 (l. Novak Djokovic) and 2015 (l. Vasek Pospisil).
• Last year here, Troicki reached the 2nd round here (d. Alex Bolt, l. Nick Kyrgios). Elsewhere at the Grand Slams 2018 he fell to Tennys Sandgren the 1st round at the US Open. He missed Roland Garros and Wimbledon due to a lower back injury.
• Troicki’s best result in 2018 was reaching the quarterfinal at Sofia (l. Wawrinka) – the only occasion he recorded back-to-back match-wins during the season.
• Prior to coming here, Troicki competed at the Playford Challenger (AUS), where he reached the 2nd round (d. Rudolf Molleker, l. Oscar Otte).
• Troicki is bidding to record his 5th match-win against a Top 20 player at a Grand Slam. He has a 4-17 win-loss record against Top 20 opposition at the majors, with his most recent victory against a Top 20 player at the Grand Slams coming at 2016 Roland Garros when he defeated No. 18 Gilles Simon in straight sets.
• Troicki is a former Top 20 player. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 12 in June 2011, but ended 2018 ranked No. 215 – his lowest year-end ranking since 2005, when he was ranked No. 343. He plays here at No. 200.
• Troicki was a member of the ITF Junior Touring Team in Europe and North America in 2004, funded by the Grand Slam Development Fund.
• Troicki is coached by Jack Reader.

NO. 20 GRIGOR DIMITROV (BUL) v PABLO CUEVAS (URU)
Head-to-head: Dimitrov leads 2-1
2014 Paris-1000 Hard (I) R32 Dimitrov 60 63
2015 Istanbul Clay (O) SF Cuevas 62 64
2016 Sydney Hard (O) R16 Dimitrov 76(2) 64

A 4th Tour-level meeting for the pair, but their first at a Grand Slam. Dimitrov won both of their previous encounters on a hard court.
Dimitrov has lost 3 Grand Slam matches against players ranked as low as No. 94 Cuevas – including his last 2 defeats at the majors. He lost to No. 224 Stan Wawrinka in the 1st round at 2018 Wimbledon and to Wawrinka again – then-ranked No. 101 – in the 1st round at the 2018 US Open. His only other defeat against a player ranked as low as Cuevas at a Grand Slam came against No. 95 Joao Sousa in the 1st round at the 2013 US Open.

DIMITROV v CUEVAS
27 Age 33
21 ATP Ranking 94
8 Titles 6
51-33 Career Grand Slam Record 17-29
21-8 Australian Open Record 3-6
292-181 Career Record 198-170
187-115 Career Record – Hard 56-73
3-1 2019 Record 1-1
3-1 2019 Record – Hard 1-1
7-6 Career Five-Set Record 4-9
0 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 1
122-95 Career Tiebreak Record 94-80
0-0 2019 Tiebreak Record 0-0

• DIMITROV is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 6th straight year. This is his 9th consecutive appearance at the Australian Open.
• Dimitrov advanced to the 2nd round here for the 8th time after defeating Janko Tipsarevic 46 63 61 64 in the 1st round on Monday.
• This is Dimitrov’s 34th Grand Slam overall. Should he win his maiden Grand Slam title on his 34th attempt, he will be joint-3rd with Petr Korda on the Open Era list for most Grand Slam appearances before winning a first Grand Slam title. (see Preview page 5)
• Dimitrov’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the semifinals on 2 occasions, including at the Australian Open in 2017, when he lost to Rafael Nadal in 5 sets. He also reached the semifinals at 2014 Wimbledon (l. Novak Djokovic).
• Last year here Dimitrov reached the quarterfinals, falling to Kyle Edmund in 4 sets. Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018 Dimitrov reached the 3rd round at Roland Garros (l. Fernando Verdasco), but fell to Stan Wawrinka in the 1st round at both Wimbledon and the US Open.
• Dimitrov’s best result in 2018 was reaching the final at 2018 Rotterdam (l. Roger Federer). He also reached the semifinals at Brisbane (l. Nick Kyrgios) and Monte Carlo-1000 (l. Rafael Nadal) and the quarterfinals at 3 further Tour-level events.
• Dimitrov warmed up for the Australian Open at Brisbane where he reached the quarterfinals (l. Kei Nishikori).
• Dimitrov has won 3 of his last 4 five-set matches. His only defeat during that time came against Nadal in the semifinals here in 2017. Dimitrov has a 3-2 win-loss record in five-set matches at the Australian Open and 7-6 win-loss record in five-set matches overall.
2019 Australian Open day 3 men’s match notes
• The Australian Open is Dimitrov’s most successful Grand Slam in terms of matches won. He has a 21-8 win-loss record here, compared to a 15-9 win-loss record at Wimbledon, 8-8 at the US Open and 7-8 at Roland Garros.
• Dimitrov reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 in November 2017 after winning the ATP Finals. He plays here ranked No. 21.
• Dimitrov finished 2008 as No. 3 in the ITF Junior Rankings after winning the boys’ singles titles at Wimbledon (d. Henri Kontinen) and the US Open (d. Devin Britton).
• Dimitrov was part of the ITF 14 & Under European Team in Europe in 2004-05 and the ITF 16 & Under European A Team in Europe in 2006, funded by the Grand Slam Development Fund.
• Dimitrov started working with Dani Vallverdu, former coach to Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych, in July 2016. His fitness trainer is Sebastien Durand and his physio is Casey Cordial.
• CUEVAS is bidding to become the first Uruguayan player – man or woman – to reach the 3rd round at the Australian Open.
• Cuevas progressed to the 2nd round here after defeating Dusan Lajovic 64 75 61 in the 1st round on Monday. This is his 7th appearance at the Australian Open and his 30th Grand Slam overall.
• Cuevas is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the first time and equal his best Grand Slam result. He has reached the 3rd round at a major on 3 occasions – at Roland Garros in 2015 (l. Gael Monfils), 2016 (l. Tomas Berdych) and 2017 (l. Fernando Verdasco).
• By reaching the 2nd round here for 3rd time, Cuevas has equalled his best Australian Open result. He has reached the 2nd round here on 2 occasions – in 2016 (d. Yoshihito Nishioka, l. Nick Kyrgios) and last year (d. Mikhail Youzhny, l. Ryan Harrison).
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018, Cuevas reached the 2nd round at Roland Garros (d. Aljaz Bedene, l. Kevin Anderson) but lost in the 1st round at Wimbledon (l. Simone Bolelli). He withdrew from the US Open due to a broken right foot.
• Cuevas’s 2018 highlights were reaching the semifinals at Sao Paulo (l. Fabio Fognini) and the quarterfinals at Rio de Janeiro (l. Nicolas Jarry).
• Prior to coming here, Cuevas competed as a qualifier at Auckland, where he fell to Ugo Humbert in the 1st round.
• Cuevas is bidding to defeat a Top 30 player at a Grand Slam for the first time on his 13th attempt. The highest-ranked player he has defeated at a major is No. 31 Dominic Thiem in the 2nd round at 2015 Roland Garros. He has a 28-62 win-loss record against Top 30 players at Tour-level overall.
• Cuevas is a former Top 20 player. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 19 in August 2016 but plays here at No. 94.
• Cuevas has won just one of his last 7 five-set matches. He has a 4-9 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Cuevas is coached by Alberto Mancini and Facundo Savio.

NO. 22 ROBERTO BAUTISTA AGUT (ESP) v JOHN MILLMAN (AUS)
Tour-level head-to-head: Bautista Agut leads 3-0
2009 Spain F7 Futures Clay (O) R32 Millman 46 63 63
2016 Chennai Hard (O) R16 Bautista Agut 64 61
2016 Beijing Hard (O) R32 Bautista Agut 64 36 63
2017 Roland Garros Clay (O) R128 Bautista Agut 62 62 06 61

A 4th Tour-level meeting for the 2 players, but their 1st since 2017. It is their 3rd meeting on a hard court and their 2nd at a Grand Slam.
Bautista Agut is facing an Australian player at the Australian Open for the first time. He has a 3-2 win-loss record against players at their home Grand Slams – a 2-1 win-loss record against Frenchmen at Roland Garros, a 0-1 win-loss record against Brits at Wimbledon and a 1-0 win-loss record against Americans at the US Open.

Bautista Agut has a 2-2 win-loss record against Australian players at the Grand Slams and a 7-3 win-loss record against Australian players at Tour-level overall.

BAUTISTA AGUT v MILLMAN
30 Age 29
24 ATP Ranking 37
9 Titles 0
45-24 Career Grand Slam Record 14-15
12-7 Australian Open Record 4-4
251-150 Career Record 52-64
163-96 Career Record – Hard 38-46
6-0 2019 Record 4-2
6-0 2019 Record – Hard 4-2
9-5 Career Five-Set Record 2-3
1 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
87-77 Career Tiebreak Record 23-29
1-2 2019 Tiebreak Record 3-2

• BAUTISTA AGUT is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 4th time. This is his 8th Australian Open appearance and his 25th Grand Slam overall.
• Bautista Agut advanced to the 2nd round here by defeating Andy Murray 64 64 67(5) 47(4) 62 in the 1st round on Monday. He has now won 5 of the 7 five-set matches he has contested at the Australian Open. He has 9-5 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Bautista Agut’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the round of 16 on 9 occasions, including 3 times at the Australian Open – in 2014 (l. Grigor Dimitrov), 2016 (l. Tomas Berdych) and 2017 (l. Milos Raonic).
• Last year here, Bautista Agut fell to Fernando Verdasco in the 1st round. He has lost in the 1st round here on one other occasion – on his Grand Slam debut as a qualifier in 2012 (l. Ricardo Mello).
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018, Bautista Agut reached the 3rd round at Roland Garros (l. Novak Djokovic) but fell in the 1st round at the US Open (l. Jason Kubler). He missed Wimbledon due to a groin injury.
• Bautista Agut’s best results in 2018 were winning the titles at Auckland (d. Juan Martin del Potro) and Dubai (d. Lucas Pouille). He also finished runner-up at Gstaad (l. Matteo Berrettini) and reached the semifinals at Halle, where he retired due to a hip injury against Borna Coric, and St Petersburg (l. Dominic Thiem).
• Bautista Agut warmed up for the Australian Open by winning his 9th career singles title at Doha (d. Tomas Berdych). It is the 4th consecutive season in which he has won a title prior to the Australian Open. 7 of his 9 titles have come on hard courts. His victory in the final at Auckland was his 250th Tour-level match-win in his 400th Tour-level match.
2019 Australian Open day 3 men’s match notes
• Bautista Agut reached a career-high ranking of No. 13 in October 2016. He plays here at No. 24.
• Bautista Agut has played Davis Cup for Spain since 2014 and has a 6-5 win-loss record in the competition. As a semifinalist in 2018, Spain has secured a place in the 2019 Davis Cup finals in Madrid on 18-24 November.
• Bautista Agut is coached by Tomas Carbonell and Pepe Vendrell.
• MILLMAN is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 2nd time and equal his best Australian Open performance. This is his 5th appearance here and his 16th Grand Slam overall.
• Millman advanced to the 2nd round after defeating Federico Delbonis 63 36 76(3) 62 in the 1st round on Monday.
• Millman’s best Australian Open result is reaching the 3rd round in 2016 (l. Bernard Tomic). Last year here, Millman reached the 2nd round (d. Borna Coric, l. Damir Dzumhur).
• Millman’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the quarterfinals at the US Open last year. He recorded a career-best victory by defeating No. 2 Roger Federer in the round of 16 before falling Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the last 8.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018, Millman reached the 2nd round at Wimbledon (d. Stefano Travaglia, l. Milos Raonic) but fell in the 1st round at Roland Garros (l. Denis Shapovalov).
• Millman’s best result in 2018 was reaching his first Tour-level final at Budapest (l. Marco Cecchinato). He also reached the quarterfinals at Eastbourne (l. Cecchinato) and the US Open. • Millman warmed up for the Australian Open by reaching the quarterfinals at Sydney (l. Gilles Simon). He also competed at Brisbane where he reached the 2nd round (d. Tennys Sandgren, l. Grigor Dimitrov).
• Millman is bidding to end a 4-match losing streak against Top 30 opposition. He has not defeated a Top 30 player since defeating No. 2 Federer at the 2018 US Open. He has a 5-10 win-loss record against Top 30 players at the Grand Slams and a 9-30 win-loss record against Top 30 players overall.
• Millman is one of 12 Australian men who started this year’s Australian Open main draw – the most since 2001 when there were also 12. He is looking to become the first native champion to win the Australian Open men’s singles title since Mark Edmondson in 1976.
• Millman reached a career-high ranking of No. 33 in October 2018. He plays here 4 places lower at No. 37.
• Millman made his Davis Cup debut in Australia’s World Group semifinal defeat to Belgium in September 2017. He lost the only Davis Cup rubber he has played – to David Goffin in 4 sets. Australia will play Bosnia Herzegovina in the Davis Cup qualifiers in Adelaide on 1-2 February.
• Millman is coached by Jonas Luetjen.

NO. 27 ALEX DE MINAUR (AUS) v (Q) HENRI LAAKSONEN (SUI)
Head-to-head: first meeting
De Minaur has lost a Tour-level match to a player ranked as low as No. 166 Laaksonen on just 2 occasions – to No. 374 Yoshihito Nishioka in the 1st round at Miami-1000 last year and to No. 239 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals at Brisbane earlier this month.
De Minaur is facing a qualifier at a Grand Slam for the first time. He has a 4-2 win-loss record against qualifiers at Tour-level.

DE MINAUR v LAAKSONEN
19 Age 26
29 ATP Ranking 166
1 Titles 0
6-7 Career Grand Slam Record 1-2
2-2 Australian Open Record 1-0
34-28 Career Record 30-35
31-20 Career Record – Hard 17-18
8-1 2019 Record 1-0
8-1 2019 Record – Hard 1-0
1-2 Career Five-Set Record 3-0
0 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 1
19-12 Career Tiebreak Record 13-18
3-1 2019 Tiebreak Record 1-0

• DE MINAUR is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the first time and equal his best Grand Slam performance.
• De Minaur progressed to the 2nd round here for the 2nd time after defeating Pedro Sousa 64 75 64 in the 1st round.
• By reaching the 2nd round here, De Minaur has equalled his best Australian Open performance. He also reached the 2nd round on his Grand Slam debut in 2017, defeating Gerald Melzer in the 1st round before falling to Sam Querrey. Aged 17 years 347 days, he was the youngest man to reach the 2nd round at a major since Borna Coric (17 years 298 days) at the 2014 US Open.
• De Minaur’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the 3rd round at both 2018 Wimbledon (l. Rafael Nadal) and the 2018 US Open, where he surrendered a 2-0 lead against Marin Cilic before losing in 5 sets. He has a 1-2 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Last year here, as a wild card, De Minaur fell to Tomas Berdych in straight sets in the 1st round. This is his 3rd Australian Open appearance and his 8th Grand Slam overall.
• Also in Grand Slam play in 2018, De Minaur fell to Kyle Edmund in the 1st round as a wild card at Roland Garros.
• De Minaur’s best results in 2018 were finishing runner-up at Sydney (l. Daniil Medvedev) and Washington (l. Alexander Zverev). He also reached the semifinals as a wild card at Brisbane (l. Ryan Harrison) and as No. 7 seed at Shenzhen (l. Pierre-Hugues Herbert).
• De Minaur warmed up for the Australian Open by winning his first Tour-level title at Sydney, defeating Andreas Seppi in the final. He also reached the quarterfinals at Brisbane (l. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga).
• De Minaur is one of 12 Australian men who started this year’s Australian Open main draw – the most since 2001 when there were also 12. He is looking to become the first native champion to win the Australian Open men’s singles title since Mark Edmondson in 1976.
• De Minaur was voted ATP Newcomer of the Year by his fellow players in 2018, having risen from outside the Top 200 to finish the year ranked at No. 31. He broke the Top 30 for the first time after reaching the quarterfinals at Brisbane this month and plays here at a career-high ranking of No. 29.
2019 Australian Open day 3 men’s match notes
• De Minaur reached a career-high junior ranking of No. 2 in February 2016. He reached the semifinals of the boys’ singles at the 2016 Australian Open (l. Jurabek Karimov) and won the doubles event alongside Blake Ellis. He also finished runner-up in the boys’ singles event at 2016 Wimbledon (l. Denis Shapovalov).
• De Minaur made his Davis Cup debut in 2018 but has lost all 3 rubbers he has contested in the competition so far. Australia will play Bosnia/Herzegovina in the Davis Cup qualifiers in Adelaide on 1-2 February.
• De Minaur is coached by Adolfo Gutierrez.
• Qualifier LAAKSONEN is bidding to reach the 3rd round at a Grand Slam for the first time on his Australian Open debut.
• Laaksonen progressed to the 2nd round after defeating Mirza Basic 64 76(4) 46 63 for his first Grand Slam match-win in the 1st round on Monday.
• Laaksonen defeated No. 5 seed Casper Ruud (NOR) 62 64, Tobias Kamke (GER) 36 63 63 and Joao Domingues (POR) 76(4) 62 in the 3 rounds of qualifying here. It was the first time he has successfully qualified for a Grand Slam on his 16th attempt.
• Laaksonen is making his 3rd Grand Slam main draw appearance here. He fell in the 1st round on his 2 previous Grand Slam appearances – as a direct acceptance at both Wimbledon (l. Lukas Rosol) and the US Open (l. Juan Martin del Potro) in 2017.
• Last year here Laaksonen fell to Federico Gaio in the 1st round of qualifying. He also lost in qualifying at the other 3 Grand Slams – reaching the 2nd round of qualifying at Roland Garros (l. Mohamed Safwat) and Wimbledon (l. Jason Jung), but falling in the 1st round of qualifying at the US Open (l. Tommy Robredo).
• Laaksonen’s best Tour-level result in 2018 was reaching the semifinals as a lucky loser at Bastad (l. Richard Gasquet). He won 4 other Tour-level matches last year – in 2nd round finishes at Houston (d. Dustin Brown, l. John Isner) and as a wild card at Basel (d. Marco Cecchinato, l. Taylor Fritz), as well as victories against Jonathan Mridha and Markus Eriksson in Switzerland’s Davis Cup World Group play-off win against Sweden.
• Also in 2018, Laaksonen reached the final at the Chengdu Challenger (CHN) (l. Zhang Ze) and the quarterfinals at the Sarasota Challenger (USA) (l. Juan Ignacio Londero) and the Heilbronn Challenger (GER) (l. Jiri Vesely).
• Prior to coming here Laaksonen competed at the Playford Challenger (AUS), where he reached the 3rd round (l. Ruud).
• Laaksonen has won just one of his last 7 meetings against Top 30 opposition. His recorded a career-best victory in his most recent meeting with a Top 30 player, defeating No. 21 Cecchinato at 2018 Basel to end a 6-match losing streak against Top 30 opponents. He has a 2-11 win-loss record against Top 30 players overall.
• Laaksonen reached a career-high ranking of No. 93 in August 2017 but plays here at No. 166.
• Laaksonen reached a career-high junior ranking of No. 20 in March 2010. He reached the semifinals of the boys’ singles at 2009 Roland Garros (l. Daniel Berta). His best performance in the boys’ singles here was a 2nd round finish in 2009 (d. Ben McLachlan, l. Adrien Puget).
• Laaksonen has played Davis Cup for Switzerland since 2009 and has a 10-8 overall win-loss record in the competition. Switzerland will play Russia in the Davis Cup qualifiers in Biel on 1-2 February.
• Laaksonen is currently without a permanent coach.

NO. 30 GAEL MONFILS (FRA) v TAYLOR FRITZ (USA)
Head-to-head: first meeting

MONFILS v FRITZ
32 Age 21
33 ATP Ranking 50
7 Titles 0
100-47 Career Grand Slam Record 5-10
26-13 Australian Open Record 1-2
441-255 Career Record 54-56
273-148 Career Record – Hard 45-41
1-0 2019 Record 3-2
1-0 2019 Record – Hard 3-2
16-14 Career Five-Set Record 1-4
2 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 1
177-129 Career Tiebreak Record 36-27
0-0 2019 Tiebreak Record 4-2

• MONFILS is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 10th time. This is his 14th appearance at the Australian Open and his 48th Grand Slam overall.
• Monfils advanced to the 2nd round after defeating Damir Dzumhur 60 64 60 in the 1st round on Tuesday.
• By defeating Dzumhur in the 1st round here for his 26th match-win at the Australian Open, Monfils claimed sole ownership of 2nd place on the list for most Australian Open match-wins by a Frenchman in the Open Era.
Most Australian Open match-wins by a Frenchman (Open Era) Player Australian Open match-wins
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
37
Gael Monfils
26
Sebastien Grosjean
Gilles Simon
25
25
Richard Gasquet
24

• By defeating Dzumhur in the 1st round here, Monfils also recorded his 100th Grand Slam match-win and became the 5th Frenchman to record 100 victories at the majors – after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (118 Grand Slam match-wins), Richard Gasquet (105), Jean Borotra (103) and Henri Cochet (102).
• Last year here Monfils reached the 2nd round (d. Jaume Munar, l. Novak Djokovic).
• Monfils’ best Australian Open performance is reaching the quarterfinals in 2016 on his 11th attempt (l. Milos Raonic), moving him into joint-2nd place with Mark Woodforde on the list for the most attempts before reaching the last 8 here in the Open Era.
• Monfils’ best Grand Slam result is reaching the semifinals at 2008 Roland Garros ranked No. 59 (l. Roger Federer), and at the 2016 US Open (l. Djokovic).
• Elsewhere in Grand Slam play in 2018, Monfils reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon for the first time, where he fell to Kevin Anderson in 4 sets. He reached the 3rd round at Roland Garros (l. David Goffin) and the 2nd round at the US Open, where retired in the 2nd round against Kei Nishikori due to a right wrist sprain.
• Monfils’ best result in 2018 was winning his 7th Tour-level title as a wild card at Doha (d. Andrey Rublev). He also reached the final at Antwerp (l. Kyle Edmund) and the semifinals at Buenos Aires (l. Dominic Thiem) and Antalya (l. Adrian Mannarino).
• Monfils reached a career-high ranking of No. 6 in November 2016, but plays here at No. 33.
2019 Australian Open day 3 men’s match notes
• Monfils narrowly missed out on achieving the Junior Grand Slam in 2004 after winning the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. His preparation for the junior US Open that year was hampered by a knee injury and he lost in the 3rd round to Viktor Troicki. He was named 2004 ITF Junior Boys’ World Champion. He is one of 2 former Australian Open boys’ singles champions through to the 2nd round from the 6 who started in the main draw here.
• Monfils is currently without a coach.
• FRITZ is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the first time and equal his best Grand Slam performance. This is his 3rd appearance here and his 11th Grand Slam overall.
• Fritz advanced to the 2nd round after defeating Cameron Norrie 63 76(6) 62 for his first Australian Open match-win in the 1st round on Monday.
• Last year here, Fritz fell to Mathias Bourgue in the 2nd round of qualifying. He fell in the 1st round in his previous 2 main draw appearances here – as a qualifier in 2016 (l. Jack Sock) and as a direct acceptance in 2017 (l. Gilles Muller).
• Fritz’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the 3rd round at the US Open last year. He defeated Mischa Zverev, when he recovered from 0-2 down for the first time in his career, and Jason Kubler before falling to Dominic Thiem.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018, Fritz reached the 2nd round at Wimbledon (d. Lorenzo Sonego, l. Alexander Zverev) but fell in the 1st round at Roland Garros (l. Guido Andreozzi).
• Fritz’s best results in 2018 were reaching the semifinals at Houston (l. Steve Johnson) and Chengdu (l. Fabio Fognini). He also reached the quarterfinals at Delray Beach (l. Denis Shapovalov), Lyon (l. Dusan Lajovic) and as a wild card at Basel (l. Marius Copil).
• Prior to coming here Fritz reached the quarterfinals at Auckland (l. Norrie) but fell to Denis Kudla in the 1st round at Brisbane.
• Fritz is bidding to defeat a seeded player at a Grand Slam for the first time. He has lost all 7 of his previous meetings with seeded opposition at the majors.
• Fritz lost the only 5-set match he has contested here – to Sock on his Australian Open debut in the 1st round in 2016. He has a 1-4 win loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Fritz broke the Top 50 for the first time in October 2018 and reached a career-high ranking of No. 47 in November. He plays here 3 places lower at No. 50.
• Fritz is a former junior world No. 1. He was named 2015 ITF Junior World Champion after winning the boys’ singles title at the 2015 US Open (d. Tommy Paul). He also finished as runner-up in the boys’ singles at 2015 Roland Garros (l. Paul). He contested the boys’ singles on one occasion – reaching the quarterfinals in 2015 (l. Seong-chan Hong).
• Both of Fritz’s parents were professional tennis players. His mother, Kathy, is a former Top 10 player.
• Fritz is coached by Paul Annacone and David Nainkin.

JORDAN THOMPSON (AUS) v ANDREAS SEPPI (ITA)
Head-to-head: first meeting

Seppi is facing an Australian opponent here for the 4th time. He has won 2 of his 3 meetings with Australian players at the Australian Open – defeating Lleyton Hewitt in the 1st round in 2014 and recovering from 0-2 down to defeat Nick Kyrgios in 5 sets in the 2nd round in 2017. Seppi had surrendered a 2-0 lead before falling to Kyrgios in 5 sets in the round of 16 in 2015. He has a 9-12 win-loss record against Australians at Tour-level overall.
Seppi has a 6-4 win-loss record against players at their home Grand Slams – as well as his 2-1 win-loss record against home players here, he also has a 2-1 win-loss record against both Brits at Wimbledon and Americans at the US Open. He lost his only meeting with a Frenchman at Roland Garros.

THOMPSON v SEPPI
24 Age 34
72 ATP Ranking 35
0 Titles 3
4-14 Career Grand Slam Record 56-55
2-5 Australian Open Record 19-13
21-42 Career Record 356-375
16-25 Career Record – Hard 168-198
4-2 2019 Record 5-2
4-2 2019 Record – Hard 5-2
2-6 Career Five-Set Record 22-18
1 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 5
10-18 Career Tiebreak Record 138-173
2-1 2019 Tiebreak Record 2-1

• THOMPSON is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the first time and record his best Grand Slam result.
• Thompson progressed to the 2nd round here for the 2nd time after defeating Feliciano Lopez 61 76(0) 63 in the 1st round on Monday. By defeating Lopez, he ended a 5-match losing streak at the Grand Slams, having not previously recorded a Grand Slam match-win since reaching the 2nd round at the 2017 US Open.
• By reaching the 2nd round here, Thompson has equalled his best Grand Slam result. He has reached the 2nd round at a major on 3 previous occasions – including here in 2017 (d. Joao Sousa, l. Dominic Thiem). He also reached the 2nd round on his Roland Garros debut as a wild card in 2016 (d. Laslo Djere, l. Ivo Karlovic) and at the 2017 US Open (d. Jack Sock, l. Thomas Fabbiano).
• Last year here, Thompson fell to Nicolas Kicker in 5 sets in the 1st round. He has won one of the 3 five-set matches he has contested at the Australian Open and has a 2-6 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Thompson fell in the 1st round at all 4 Grand Slams in 2018. As well as his defeat to Kicker here, he also fell to Casper Ruud at Roland Garros, Sam Querrey at Wimbledon and Cameron Norrie at the US Open.
• Thompson recorded just one Tour-level match-win in 2018 – in a 2nd round finish at Newport (d. James Duckworth, l. Adrian Mannarino). He lost in the 1st round at the 9 other Tour-level events he contested and lost the only Davis Cup rubber he contested to Dominic Thiem in Australia’s World Group play-off defeat to Austria.
• Thompson’s best results in 2018 came at Challenger-level. He won 3 Challenger titles – at Chennai (IND) (d. Yuki Bhambri), Traralgon (AUS) (d. Yoshihito Nishioka) and Canberra (AUS) (d. Nicola Kuhn) – and finished runner-up at 5 other Challenger events.
• Prior to coming here Thomspon reached the quarterfinals as a wild card at Sydney and the 2nd round as a direct acceptance at Brisbane falling to Alex de Minaur on both occasions.
2019 Australian Open day 3 men’s match notes
• Thompson is bidding to record back-to-back match-wins at Tour-level for the 3rd time. The only previous occasions he has recorded back-to-back match-wins at Tour-level came in quarterfinal finishes at 2017 Brisbane, where he defeated Elias Ymer and David Ferrer before falling to Kei Nishikori, and at Sydney this year.
• Thompson is one of 12 Australian men who started this year’s Australian Open main draw – the most since 2001 when there were also 12. He is looking to become the first native champion to win the Australian Open men’s singles title since Mark Edmondson in 1976.
• Thompson played in the boys’ singles event at the Junior Australian Open in 2011 and 2012, losing in the 1st round on both occasions. He finished as runner-up with Nick Kyrgios in the boys’ doubles at the 2012 US Open. He also represented Australia in the 2008 World Junior Tennis Finals and the 2010 Junior Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Finals.
• Thompson made his Davis Cup debut in 2017 and has a 4-2 overall win-loss record in the competition. Australia will play Bosnia/Herzegovina in the Davis Cup qualifiers in Adelaide on 1-2 February.
• Thompson is coached by Desmond Tyson.
• SEPPI is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 5th straight year and the 6th time overall. This is his 14th Australian Open appearance.
• Seppi progressed to the 2nd round here after defeating No. 31 seed Steve Johnson 64 46 64 63 in the 1st round on Monday.
• Last year here Seppi equalled his best Grand Slam performance by reaching the round of 16 (l. Kyle Edmund). He has reached the round of 16 here on 3 other occasions – in 2013 (l. Jeremy Chardy) and 2015 (l. Nick Kyrgios) and 2017 (l. Stan Wawrinka). He also reached the round of 16 at 2012 Roland Garros (l. Novak Djokovic) and 2013 Wimbledon (l. Juan Martin del Potro).
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018, Seppi reached the 2nd round at both Wimbledon (d. John-Patrick Smith, l. Kevin Anderson) and the US Open (d. Sam Querrey, l. Denis Shapovalov), but fell to Richard Gasquet in the 1st round at Roland Garros.
• Seppi is appearing at his 55th consecutive Grand Slam event, putting him in 5th place on the list for most consecutive Grand Slam appearances. It is also the 3rd-longest active streak of appearances at the majors. He has not missed a Grand Slam since 2005 Roland Garros. (see Preview page 7)
• Seppi’s best results in 2018 were reaching the semifinals as a lucky loser at Rotterdam (l. Roger Federer), and as a direct acceptance at both Budapest (l. Marco Cecchinato) and Moscow (l. Adrian Mannarino). He also reached the quarterfinals at Geneva (l. Peter Gojowczyk) and Halle (l. Borna Coric).
• Prior to coming here Seppi reached the final at Sydney, falling to Alex de Minaur in straight sets. He also competed at Doha, but fell to Andrey Rublev in the 1st round.
• Seppi has won 3 career singles titles – at 2011 Eastbourne (d. Janko Tipsarevic), 2012 Belgrade (d. Benoit Paire) and 2012 Moscow (d. Thomaz Bellucci).
• Seppi is a former Top 20 player. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 18 in January 2013. He plays here at No. 35.
• Seppi has played Davis Cup for Italy since 2004 and has a 22-21 overall win-loss record in the competition. Italy will play India in the Davis Cup qualifiers in Kolkata on 1-2 February.
• Seppi has been coached by Massimo Sartori since 1995

***All statitics provided courtesy of the ITF and Grand Slam Media