2019 AUSTRALIAN OPEN
DAY 5 MEN’S NOTES
Friday 18 January
3rd Round Bottom Half
No. 2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) v No. 27 Alex de Minaur (AUS)
No. 3 Roger Federer (SUI) v Taylor Fritz (USA)
No. 6 Marin Cilic (CRO) v No. 26 Fernando Verdasco (ESP)
No. 10 Karen Khachanov (RUS) v No. 22 Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP)
No. 14 Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) v No. 19 Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO)
No. 18 Diego Schwartzman (ARG) v Tomas Berdych (CZE)
No. 20 Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) v Thomas Fabbiano (ITA)
Frances Tiafoe (USA) v Andreas Seppi (ITA)
On court today…
• Roger Federer will set yet another record when he contests his 100th Australian Open match on Rod Laver Arena today. The 6-time champion takes on American Taylor Fritz, who is bidding to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the first time. Federer, by contrast, is aiming to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the 63rd time and extend his record for most appearances in the round of 16 at the majors in the Open Era. If Fritz is to make his first appearance in the last 16 here next week he must defeat a Top 5 player for the first time on his 4th attempt.
• World No. 2 Rafael Nadal and Australian No. 1 Alex de Minaur headline the action on Rod Laver Arena this evening. Nadal is facing an Australian player for the 3rd straight round, having already defeated James Duckworth and Matthew Ebden in the opening 2 rounds here. De Minaur will aim to join Lleyton Hewitt, Nick Kyrgios and Chris Guccione on the list of Australians to have beaten Nadal – but to do so he must improve on his showing the last time he met Nadal in the 3rd round at a major, at Wimbledon last year, when he managed to win a total of 7 games in a straight sets defeat.
• Italians Thomas Fabbiano and Andreas Seppi are in 3rd round action today, with Fabbiano facing No. 20 seed Grigor Dimitrov on Melbourne Arena and Seppi taking on Frances Tiafoe on Court 3. With Fabio Fognini also through to the 3rd round here, 2019 is the first time that 3 Italian men have reached the 3rd round here in the Open Era. Italy has had multiple representatives in the round of 16 of the men’s singles here on one previous occasion – last year, when Fognini and Seppi both reached the last 16. Should the trio reach the round of 16, it will be the first time in the Open Era that 3 Italian men have reached the round of 16 at a Grand Slam.
NO. 2 RAFAEL NADAL (ESP) v NO. 27 ALEX DE MINAUR (AUS)
Head-to-head: Nadal leads 1-0
2018 Wimbledon Grass (O) R32 Nadal 61 62 64
Nadal is facing an Australian opponent for the 3rd straight match. His victory over Matthew Ebden in the 2nd round here this year was his 6th 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.
De Minaur 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 25-7 win-loss record against Australians at Tour-level overall.
Nadal has a 26-4 win-loss record against players at their home Grand Slams – in addition to his 6-2 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 DE MINAUR
32 Age 19
2 ATP Ranking 29
80 Titles 1
249-36 Career Grand Slam Record 7-7
57-12 Australian Open Record 3-2
920-189 Career Record 35-28
437-128 Career Record – Hard 32-20
2-0 2019 Record 9-1
2-0 2019 Record – Hard 9-1
21-12 Career Five-Set Record 2-2
3 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
226-145 Career Tiebreak Record 19-13
0-0 2019 Tiebreak Record 3-2
• 2009 Australian Open champion NADAL is bidding to record his 250th Grand Slam match-win today.
• Nadal is bidding to reach the round of 16 at the Australian Open for the 12th time and climb the list for most appearances in the round of 16 here in the Open Era.
Most Australian Open round of 16 appearances (Open Era) Player Australian Open round of 16 appearances
Roger Federer
17??
Novak Djokovic*
Rafael Nadal
12??
12??
Tomas Berdych
Stefan Edberg
11??
11
Ivan Lendl
Andy Murray
10
10
*NB written prior to Djokovic’s 2nd round match on Thursday
• Nadal is bidding to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the 43rd time and equal Jimmy Connors in 3rd place on the list for most round of 16 appearances at the Grand Slams in the Open Era. (see table overleaf)
2019 Australian Open day 5 men’s match notes
Most Grand Slam round of 16 appearances (Open Era) Player Australian Open round of 16 appearances
Roger Federer
63??
Novak Djokovic*
46??
Jimmy Connors
Rafael Nadal
43
43??
Andre Agassi
Ivan Lendl
42
42
*NB written prior to Djokovic’s 2nd round match on Thursday
• Nadal progressed to the 3rd round after defeating wild card James Duckworth 64 63 75 in the 1st round on Monday and Matthew Edben 63 62 62 in the 2nd round on Wednesday. This is his 14th appearance at the Australian Open and his 55th Grand Slam overall.
• By defeating Ebden in the 2nd round here, Nadal recorded his 57th Australian Open match-win and claimed sole ownership of 3rd place on the list for most Australian Open match-wins in the Open Era, ahead of Stefan Edberg.
• 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).
• 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.
2019 Australian Open day 5 men’s match notes
• DE MINAUR is bidding to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the first time. This is his 3rd appearance at the Australian Open and his 8th Grand Slam overall.
• De Minaur progressed to the 3rd round here for the first time after defeating Pedro Sousa 64 75 64 in the 1st round on Monday and qualifier Henri Laaksonen 64 62 67(7) 46 63 in the 2nd round on Wednesday. He has won both 5-set matches he has contested at the Australian Open and has a 2-2 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• By reaching the 3rd round here this year, De Minaur has recorded his best Australian Open performance. His previous best result here was reaching the 2nd round in 2017 (d. Gerald Melzer, l. San Querrey). Last year here, as a wild card, De Minaur fell to Tomas Berdych in straight sets in the 1st round.
• By reaching the 3rd round here this year, De Minaur has equalled his best Grand Slam performance. He reached the 3rd round at both 2018 Wimbledon (l. today’s opponent) and the 2018 US Open, where he surrendered a 2-0 lead against Marin Cilic before losing in 5 sets.
• 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 bidding to defeat a Top 20 opponent for the first time on his 13th attempt. The highest-ranked player he has defeated is No. 23 Hyeon Chung in the round of 16 at 2018 Washington. The highest-ranked player he has defeated at a Grand Slam is No. 29 Marco Cecchinato in the 1st round at 2018 Wimbledon.
• De Minaur is one of 3 Australian man to have reached the 3rd round here from the 12 who started this year’s Australian Open main draw. 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.
• 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.
NO. 3 ROGER FEDERER (SUI) v TAYLOR FRITZ (USA)
Head-to-head: Federer leads 1-0
2016 Stuttgart Grass (O) R16 Federer 64 57 64
Federer has lost 6 Grand Slam matches to players ranked as a low as No. 50 Fritz – most recently against No. 55 John Millman in the round of 16 at the US Open last year.
FEDERER v FRITZ
37 Age 21
3 ATP Ranking 50
99 Titles 0
341-54 Career Grand Slam Record 6-10
96-13 Australian Open Record 2-2
1182-260 Career Record 55-56
742-147 Career Record – Hard 46-41
2-0 2019 Record 4-2
2-0 2019 Record – Hard 4-2
30-21 Career Five-Set Record 1-4
10 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 1
437-236 Career Tiebreak Record 38-28
2-0 2019 Tiebreak Record 6-3
• Two-time defending champion FEDERER is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the 17th time and extend his record for the most round of 16 appearances at the Australian Open in the Open Era.
• Federer is bidding to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the 63rd time and extend his record for the most round of 16 appearances at a Grand Slam in the Open Era.
• Federer progressed to the 3rd round here after defeating Denis Istomin 63 64 64 in the 1st round on Monday and qualifier Daniel Evans 76(5) 76(3) 63 in the 2nd round on Wednesday.
• Federer is bidding to record his 97th Australian Open match-win, having recorded his 96th match-win here in the 2nd round. He has won 95 matches at Wimbledon, 85 matches at the US Open and 65 matches at Roland Garros.
• 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. (see Preview page 2)
• 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.
2019 Australian Open day 5 men’s match notes
• 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.
• FRITZ is bidding to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the first time. This is his 3rd appearance at the Australian Open and his 11th Grand Slam overall.
• Fritz progressed to the 3rd round after defeating Cameron Norrie 63 76(6) 62 for his first Australian Open match-win in the 1st round on Monday and No. 30 seed Gael Monfils 63 67(8) 76(6) 76(5) in the 2nd round on Wednesday.
• 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).
• By reaching the 3rd round here, Fritz has equalled his best Grand Slam performance – he also reached the 3rd round at the 2018 US Open after defeating 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 Top 5 player for the first time on his 4th attempt. The highest-ranked player he has defeated is No. 7 Marin Cilic in the 2nd round at 2017 Indian Wells-1000.
• 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).
2019 Australian Open day 5 men’s match notes
• 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.
NO. 6 MARIN CILIC (CRO) v NO. 26 FERNANDO VERDASCO (ESP)
Head-to-head: Cilic leads 9-5
2007 St. Petersburg Carpet (I) SF Verdasco 62 63
2008 Nottingham Grass (O) SF Verdasco 63 61
2008 AMS Madrid Hard (I) R32 Cilic 62 63
2009 Paris-1000 Hard (I) R16 Cilic 36 63 64
2010 Miami-1000 Hard (O) R16 Verdasco 64 76(3)
2011 Paris-1000 Hard (I) R64 Verdasco 36 62 63
2012 Shanghai-1000 Hard (O) R16 Cilic 46 61 64
2012 Valencia Hard (O) R16 Cilic 61 64
2014 Cincinnati-1000 Hard (O) R32 Cilic 76(6) 76(5)
2015 Madrid-1000 Clay (O) R32 Verdasco 67(5) 76(5) 63
2016 Cincinnati-1000 Hard (O) R32 Cilic 63 61
2016 Tokyo Hard (O) R16 Cilic 46 75 75
2018 Monte Carlo-1000 Clay (O) R32 Cilic 63 76(4)
2018 Queen’s Grass (O) R32 Cilic 63 64
A 15th meeting for the 2 players, who first met more than 11 years ago at St Petersburg – but their first at a Grand Slam. It is their 10th hard court meeting, with Cilic leading the hard-court head-to-head 7-2.
Cilic and Verdasco also contested a match at the Kooyong Classic exhibition event last week, with Cilic winning 64 64.
CILIC v VERDASCO
30 Age 35
7 ATP Ranking 28
18 Titles 7
113-42 Career Grand Slam Record 106-62
28-10 Australian Open Record 24-15
481-252 Career Record 523-390
294-150 Career Record – Hard 246-208
2-0 2019 Record 3-1
2-0 2019 Record – Hard 3-1
29-15 Career Five-Set Record 24-21
6 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 5
184-162 Career Tiebreak Record 205-211
1-1 2019 Tiebreak Record 2-0
• CILIC is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the 6th time. This is his 11th Australian Open appearance and his 45th Grand Slam appearance overall.
• Cilic progressed to the 3rd round here for the 8th time after defeating Bernard Tomic 62 64 76(3) in the 1st round on Monday and Mackenzie McDonald 75 67(9) 64 64 in the 2nd round on Wednesday.
• If Cilic and Borna Coric, who will play Filip Krajinovic in the 3rd round on Saturday, both reach the round of 16 here, it will be the 2nd time that Croatia has had multiple representatives in last 16 at the Australian Open – after 2010, when Cilic and Ivo fKarlovic both reached the round of 16 here.
• Cilic is bidding to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the 22nd time and extend his record for most Grand Slam round of 16 appearances by a Croatian man. By reaching the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the 20th time at Roland Garros last year, he took sole ownership of the record, ahead of Goran Ivanisevic.
• 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.
2019 Australian Open day 5 men’s match notes
• 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 did not contest a Tour-level event prior to this year’s Australian Open. He played 2 matches at the Kooyong Classic exhibition event – defeating Kevin Anderson in a match tiebreak and today’s opponent in straight sets.
• Cilic has won 10 of his last 11 matches against lefthanders at the Grand Slams. His only defeat to a lefthander at a major came against Pella in the 2nd round at Wimbledon last year – his most recent meeting with a lefthander at a Grand Slam. He has a 15-2 win-loss record against lefthanded players at the majors and a 67-24 win-loss record against lefthanded opposition at Tour-level overall.
• 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.
• Cilic is coached by Ivan Cinkus. His fitness trainer is Slaven Hrvoj and his physiotherapists are Stijepo Jaraj and Robert Prusac.
• Lefthander VERDASCO is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the 4th time – and the first time since 2011.
• Verdasco progressed to the 3rd round here for the 6th time – and first time since 2015 – after defeating qualifier Miomir Kecmanovic 76(5) 63 63 in the 1st round on Monday and Radu Albot 61 76(2) 63 in the 2nd round on Wednesday.
• Verdasco recorded his best Grand Slam performance to date here in 2009. He reached the semifinals, losing to Rafael Nadal in 5 hours 14 minutes, the second-longest men’s singles match ever at the Australian Open. He broke into the world’s Top 10 later in the year, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 7 and finishing the year at No. 9.
• Verdasco is contesting his 16th straight Australian Open and 63rd consecutive Grand Slam. He has not missed a Grand Slam since making his debut at 2003 Wimbledon. His streak of 63 straight majors is the 3rd-longest of all time and the 2nd-longest active streak.
• Last year here, Verdasco reached the 2nd round, falling to Maximilian Marterer in 5 sets. He has a 4-6 win-loss record in 5-set matches here and a 24-21 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018, Verdasco reached round of 16 at Roland Garros (l. Novak Djokovic) and the 3rd round at the US Open (l. Juan Martin del Potro), but fell to Frances Tiafoe in the 1st round at Wimbledon.
• Verdasco’s best result in 2018 is reaching the final at Rio de Janeiro (l. Diego Schwartzman). He also reached the semifinals at Bastad (l. Fabio Fognini), Shenzhen (l. Yoshihito Nishioka) and Vienna (l. Kevin Anderson).
2019 Australian Open day 5 men’s match notes
• Verdasco warmed up for the Australian Open at Doha, where he fell to Tomas Berdych in the 2nd round. He also contested 2 singles matches against Borna Coric at the Adelaide World Tennis Challenge exhibition event, winning the first in a match tiebreak and the 2nd in straight sets, and one match at the Kooyong Classic exhibition event, falling to today’s opponent in straight sets.
• Verdasco is bidding to defeat a Top 10 opponent at a Grand Slam for the 7th time. He has a 6-22 win-loss record against Top 10 opposition at the majors, with his most-recent victory coming against No. 5 Grigor Dimitrov in the 3rd round at Roland Garros last year. He has a 27-101 win-loss record against Top 10 opposition overall.
• Verdasco is one of 4 lefthanders to reach the 3rd round here from the 19 who started the men’s singles main draw. Rafael Nadal was the most recent lefthander to win the title here in 2009.
• Verdasco is seeded No. 26 here – his highest Grand Slam seeding since 2014 Wimbledon, when he was seeded No. 18. His highest Grand Slam seeding is No. 7 at both 2009 Wimbledon and 2010 Roland Garros.
• Verdasco finished the 2018 season ranked No. 28 – his highest year-end ranking since 2012, when he finished the season ranked No. 24.
• Verdasco entered the men’s doubles event here with Pablo Cuevas. The pair defeated Philipp Oswald/Tim Puetz 63 64 in the 1st round and face No. 11 seeds Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury in the 2nd round.
• Verdasco is coached by Nacho Truyol.
NO. 10 KAREN KHACHANOV (RUS) v NO. 22 ROBERTO BAUTISTA AGUT (ESP)
Head-to-head: Bautista Agut leads 2-1
2016 Barcelona Clay (O) R32 Khachanov 62 67(4) 63
2017 Dubai Hard (O) R32 Bautista Agut 61 76(4)
2018 Halle Grass (O) QF Bautista Agut 63 67(3) 63
A 4th Tour-level meeting for the 2 players, who have met once a year since 2016. It is the 2nd hard court meeting and their first at a Grand Slam, with Bautista Agut having won their only previous hard court meeting in Dubai 2 years ago.
KHACHANOV v BAUTISTA AGUT
22 Age 30
11 ATP Ranking 24
4 Titles 9
18-9 Career Grand Slam Record 46-24
4-2 Australian Open Record 13-7
90-68 Career Record 252-150
55-45 Career Record – Hard 164-96
2-1 2019 Record 7-0
2-1 2019 Record – Hard 7-0
3-2 Career Five-Set Record 10-5
1 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 1
47-51 Career Tiebreak Record 87-78
0-1 2019 Tiebreak Record 1-3
• KHACHANOV is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the first time and equal his best Grand Slam result. This is his 3rd Australian Open appearance and his 10th Grand Slam overall.
• Khachanov advanced to the 3rd round here after defeating Peter Gojowcyzk 36 63 64 63 in the 1st round on Monday and Yoshihito Nishioka 63 63 63 in the 2nd round on Tuesday. His victory in the 2nd round was the 100th Tour-level hard court match of his career.
• Khachanov is bidding to become just the 2nd Russian man to reach the round of 16 here since Nikolay Davydenko in 2010. Since Davydenko reached the round of 16 here for the 5th and final time 9 years ago, the only Russian man to have reached the last 16 here is Andrey Kuznetsov in 2016.
• By reaching the 3rd round here this year, Khachanov has recorded his best Australian Open result. He has fallen in the 2nd round on both of his previous appearances here – in 2017 (d. Adrian Mannarino, l. Jack Sock) and last year (d. Peter Polansky, l. Juan Martin del Potro).
• Khachanov’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the round of 16 on 3 occasions – at Roland Garros on his debut in 2017 (l. Andy Murray) and in 2018 (l. Alexander Zverev), and at 2018 Wimbledon (l. Novak Djokovic).
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams last year, Khachanov reached the 3rd round at the US Open (l. Rafael Nadal).
• Khachanov’s best result in 2018 is winning his first Masters-1000 title at Paris-1000, defeating Djokovic in the final to end Djokovic’s 22-match winning streak. He defeated 4 Top 10 players en route to the title – No. 9 John Isner, No. 5 Zverev, No. 8 Dominic Thiem and No. 2 Djokovic. He also won the titles at Marseille (d. Lucas Pouille) and Moscow (d. Adrian Mannarino) and reached the semifinals at Toronto-1000 (l. Rafael Nada).
• Prior to coming here, Khachanov competed at Doha but fell to Stan Wawrinka in the 1st round.
• Khachanov is bidding to defeat a Top 30 player at a Grand Slam for the 4th time. He has a 3-8 win-loss record against Top 30 opposition with all 3 of his victories against Top 30 players at the majors coming at Roland Garros – most recently against No. 16 Lucas Pouille in the 1st round last year.
2019 Australian Open day 5 men’s match notes
• Khachanov reached a career-high ranking of No. 11 in November last year after winning the title at Paris-1000. He plays here at the same ranking.
• 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.
• Khachanov has played Davis Cup for Russia since 2013 and has a 4-4 win-loss record in singles rubbers in the competition. Russia will play Switzerland in the Davis Cup qualifiers in Biel on 1-2 February.
• Khachanov is coached by Vedran Martic.
• BAUTISTA AGUT is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the 4th time and equal his best Grand Slam result. 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 and John MIllman 63 61 36 67(6) 64 in the 2nd round on Wednesday. He has now won 6 of the 8 five-set matches he has contested at the Australian Open. He has 10-5 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Bautista Agut is bidding to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the 10th time and become the 10th Spanish man in the Open Era to reach the round of 16 at a major on 10 or more occasions. Rafael Nadal (42 Grand Slam round of 16 appearances), David Ferrer (27), Tommy Robredo (23), Fernando Verdasco (17), Juan Carlos Ferrero (15), Manuel Orantes (14), Carlos Moya (13), Feliciano Lopez (13) and Emilio Sanchez (11) are the only Spanish men to have reach the last 16 at a major more often than Bautista Agut.
• Bautista Agut’s best Grand Slam result 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, where he defeated world No. 1 Djokovic in the semifinals before defeating Tomas Berdych in the final. 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.
• Bautista Agut has won just one of his last 9 matches against Top 20 opponents. His victory against No. 1 Djokovic at Doha earlier this month ended an 8-match losing streak against Top 20 opposition. He has a 21-61 win-loss record against Top 20 opposition overall.
• Bautista Agut has won just one of his last 7 matches against Top 20 opponents at the Grand Slams. His only victory against a Top 20 player a the majors in that time came against No. 9 Kei Nishikori in the 3rd round at 2017 Wimbledon. He has a 4-13 win-loss record against Top 20 opposition at the Grand Slams overall.
• 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.
2019 Australian Open day 5 men’s match notes
• Bautista Agut is coached by Tomas Carbonell and Pepe Vendrell.
NO. 14 STEFANOS TSITSIPAS (GRE) v NO. 19 NIKOLOZ BASILASHVILI (GEO)
Head-to-head: first meeting
TSITSIPAS v BASILASHVILI
20 Age 26
15 ATP Ranking 20
1 Titles 2
7-6 Career Grand Slam Record 12-13
2-1 Australian Open Record 4-3
48-38 Career Record 73-75
31-26 Career Record – Hard 42-42
3-1 2019 Record 4-1
3-1 2019 Record – Hard 4-1
1-0 Career Five-Set Record 3-1
0 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
21-15 Career Tiebreak Record 37-21 1-1 2019 Tiebreak Record 1-0
• TSITSIPAS is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the first time and equal his best Grand Slam result. This is his 2nd Australian Open appearance and his 7th Grand Slam overall.
• Tsitsipas advanced to the 3rd round after defeating Matteo Berrettini 67(3) 64 63 76(4) in the 1st round on Monday and qualifier Viktor Troicki 63 26 62 75 in the 2nd round on Wednesday.
• Tsitsipas is bidding to become the first Greek man in history to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam on multiple occasions. By reaching the 3rd round here, he became the 2nd Greek man to reach the 3rd round at a Grand Slam on multiple occasions after Nicky Kalogeropoulos, who reached the 3rd round at Wimbledon in 1964 and 1969 and at Roland Garros in 1965 and 1967.
• Tsitsipas is bidding to record his 8th Grand Slam match-win and equal Augustos Zerlendis in 3rd place on the all-time list for most Grand Slam match-wins by a Greek player.
Most Grand Slam match-wins by a Greek player Player Grand Slam win-loss
Nicky Kalogeropoulos
16-17
Augustos Zerlendis
8-8
Stefanos Tsitsipas
7-6
Lazaros Stalios
3-3
• Tsitsipas is the first Greek man in history to reach the 3rd round here and the 2nd Greek man in history to reach the 3rd round at a Grand Slam on multiple occasions.
• 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).
2019 Australian Open day 5 men’s match notes
• 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 bidding to defeat a Top 20 player at the Grand Slams for the first time on his 3rd attempt. The highest-ranked players he has defeated at the Grand Slams are No. 54 Jared Donaldson in 5 sets at Wimbledon last year and No. 54 Matteo Berrettini in the 1st round here this year. The highest-ranked player he has defeated in his career is No. 3 Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals at 2018 Toronto-1000. He has a 12-16 win-loss record against Top 20 opposition at Tour-level.
• 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.
• Tsitsipas has won the only 5-set match he has contested at Tour level, defeating Donaldson in the 2nd round at Wimbledon last year. He also defeated Joris de Loore in a 5-set match at 2017 Wimbledon qualifying.
• At 20 years 168 days, Tsitsipas is the 3rd-youngest man to reach the 3rd 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).
• Tsitsipas is coached by his father, Apostolos Tsitsipas.
• BASILASHVILI is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the first time and equal his best Grand Slam result.
• Basilashvili is bidding to become the first Georgian man to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam on multiple occasions. Irakli Labadze is the only other Georgian man to reach the round of 16 at a major (2016 Wimbledon).
• Basilashvili advanced to the 3rd round after defeating qualifier Christopher Eubanks 64 46 76 63 in the 1st round on Monday and Stefano Travaglia 36 63 36 64 63 in the 2nd round on Wednesday. His 2nd round victory against Travaglia was his first victory in a 5-set match at the Australian Open. He has a 3-1 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Basilashvili’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the round of 16 at the US Open last year. He defeated Aljaz Bedene in 5 sets, Jack Sock and Guido Pella, before falling to Rafael Nadal in 4 sets.
• Last year here, Basilashvili reached the 3rd round (l. Kyle Edmund). This is his 4th appearance at the Australian Open and his 14th Grand Slam overall.
• Elsewhere in Grand Slam play last year, Basilashvili fell in the 1st round at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon, losing to Gilles Simon on both occasions.
• Basilashvili won his first Tour-level title as a qualifier at 2018 Hamburg. He defeated Leonardo Mayer in the final to become the first Georgian man to win a Tour-level title. He also won the title at 2018 Beijing (d. Juan Martin del Potro) and reached 4 other quarterfinals at Tour-level events in 2018.
• Basilashvili warmed up for the Australian Open by reaching the quarterfinals at Doha, where he fell to Novak Djokovic.
2019 Australian Open day 5 men’s match notes
• Basilashvili is bidding to end a 4-match losing streak against Top 20 opposition. He has not defeated a Top 20 opponent since defeating No. 4 Del Potro in the final at 2018 Beijing. He has a 9-19 win-loss record against Top 20 opposition overall.
• Basilashvili is bidding to record his 3rd match-win against a Top 20 player at a Grand Slam. He has a 2-6 win-loss record against Top 20 opposition at the majors, with his 2 victories coming against No. 16 Feliciano Lopez in the 2nd round at 2015 Wimbledon and No. 18 Sock in the 2nd round at the US Open last year.
• Basilashvili broke the Top 20 for the first time, at No. 20, after reaching the quarterfinals at Doha earlier this month. He plays here at the same ranking.
• Basilashvili has played Davis Cup for Georgia since 2015. He has a 9-3 win-loss record in singles rubbers and a 10-7 win-loss record in the competition overall.
• Basilashvili was a member of the ITF/GSDF European 14 & Under team in Europe in 2016, funded by the Grand Slam Development Fund.
• Basilashvili is coached by Jan de Witt.
NO. 18 DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN (ARG) v TOMAS BERDYCH (CZE)
Head-to-head: first meeting
SCHWARTZMAN v BERDYCH
26 Age 33
16 ATP Ranking 57
2 Titles 13
22-18 Career Grand Slam Record 145-58
6-4 Australian Open Record 46-15
107-102 Career Record 633-333
51-45 Career Record – Hard 394-208
4-1 2019 Record 6-1
4-1 2019 Record – Hard 6-1
4-3 Career Five-Set Record 21-9
1 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 2
25-41 Career Tiebreak Record 222-186
1-2 2019 Tiebreak Record 2-0
• SCHWARTZMAN is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the 2nd straight year and equal his best Australian Open performance.
• Schwartzman advanced to the 3rd round after defeating qualifier Rudolf Molleker 61 63 46 60 in the 1st round on Monday for his 50th Tour-level hard court match win and Denis Kudla 64 75 36 67(6) 64 in the 2nd round on Wednesday.
• Schwartzman is bidding to become the 6th Argentinian man in the Open Era to reach the round of 16 here on multiple occasions. David Nalbandian (5 Australian Open round of 16 appearances), Guillermo Vilas (5), Juan Martin del Potro (3), Guillermo Canas (2) and Guillermo Coria (2) are the only Argentinian men in the Open Era to have reached the last 16 here on multiple occasions.
• Schwartzman’s best Australian Open performance is reaching the round of 16 here last year, falling to Rafael Nadal in 4 sets.
• Schwartzman’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the quarterfinals at the 2017 US Open (l. Pablo Carreno Busta) and 2018 Roland Garros (l. Nadal).
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018, Schwartzman reached the 3rd round at the US Open (l. Kei Nishikori) but fell to Jiri Vesely in the 2nd round at Wimbledon.
• Schwartzman’s best result in 2018 was winning his 2nd Tour-level title at Rio de Janeiro (d. Fernando Verdasco). He also reached the semifinals at Antwerp (l. Gael Monfils) and the quarterfinals at Buenos Aires (l. Aljaz Bedene), Hamburg (l. Leonardo Mayer) and Roland Garros.
• Prior to coming here Schwartzman reached the semifinals at Sydney, falling to Andreas Seppi in straight sets.
• Schwartzman’s 5-set victory against Kudla in the 2nd round here maintained his perfect record in 5-set matches here. He has won both of his 5-set matches at the Australian Open and has a 4-3 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Schwartzman reached a career-high ranking of No. 11 after reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros last year. He plays here 5 places lower at No. 16.
• Schwartzman entered the men’s doubles here with Guillermo Duran. The pair face Australian wild cards Blake Ellis and Alexei Popyrin in the 1st round.
• Schwartzman is coached by former world No. 15 Juan Ignacio Chela, who reached the round of 16 here in 2006.
2019 Australian Open day 5 men’s match notes
• BERDYCH is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the 11th time and climb the list for most appearances in the round of 16 here in the Open Era.
• Berdych advanced to the 3rd round for the 9th consecutive year – and 12th time overall – after defeating No. 13 seed Kyle Edmund 63 60 75 in the 1st round on Monday and Robin Haase 61 63 63 in the 2nd round on Wednesday.
• Berdych is bidding to record his 47th Australian Open match-win today. By defeating Haase in the 2nd round for his 46th Australian Open match-win, Berdych claimed sole ownership of 8th place on the list for most Australian Open match-wins in the Open Era ahead of Pete Sampras. Only Roger Federer (96 Australian Open match-wins), Novak Djokovic (61), Rafael Nadal (57), Stefan Edberg (56), Andre Agassi (48), Ivan Lendl (48) and Andy Murray (48) have recorded more match-wins here in the Open Era. (NB written prior to Djokovic’s 2nd round match on Thursday)
• Berdych’s best Australian Open performance is reaching the semifinals in 2014 (l. Stan Wawrinka) and 2015 (l. Andy Murray). By reaching the semifinals here in 2014, he became the 2nd Czech man in the Open Era after Ivan Lendl to complete a set of Grand Slam semifinal appearances.
• Berdych’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the final at 2010 Wimbledon. He defeated Federer in the quarterfinals and Djokovic in the semifinals before losing to Nadal in the final.
• Last year here Berdych reached the quarterfinals for the 7th time in the last 8 years. He fell to Federer, having also lost to Federer here in 2008-09 and 2016-17. This his 16th appearance at the Australian Open and his 59th Grand Slam overall.
• Elsewhere in Grand Slam play in 2018 Berdych fell to Jeremy Chardy in 5 sets the 1st round at Roland Garros. He withdrew from both Wimbledon and the US Open due to a back injury.
• Berdych’s best results in 2018 were reaching the semifinals at Marseille (l. Karen Khachanov), and the quarterfinals at Rotterdam, where he gave a walkover to David Goffin due to illness, Stuttgart (l. Milos Raonic) and the Australian Open. He ended his season due to a back injury after losing to Julien Benneteau in the 1st round at Queen’s.
• Berdych warmed up for the Australian Open by reaching the final as a wild card at Doha, where he fell to Roberto Bautista Agut in 3 sets. It was the first Tour-level event he had contested since 2018 Queen’s and his first Tour-level final since 2017 Lyon, when he fell to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
• Berdych is bidding to record his 21st match-win against a Top 20 opponent at the Grand Slams. He has a 20-40 win-loss record against Top 20 opposition at the majors and has won 4 of his last 6 meetings with Top 20 players at the Grand Slams – including his victory against No. 14 Edmund in the 1st round here this year.
• The Australian Open is Berdych’s most successful Grand Slam in terms of matches won. He has a 46-15 win-loss record here, compared with a 42-14 win-loss record at Wimbledon, 32-14 at the US Open and 25-15 at Roland Garros.
• Berdych has won 5 of his last 6 five-set matches. His only defeat in a 5-set match in that time came in his most-recent 5-set match, against Chardy in the 1st round at Roland Garros last year. He has a 1-1 win-loss record in 5-set matches at the Australian Open and a 21-9 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
2019 Australian Open day 5 men’s match notes
• Berdych is unseeded at a Grand Slam for the first time since 2005 Wimbledon. He had previously been seeded at every Grand Slam event he has contested since the 2005 US Open.
• Berdych is a former Top 5 player. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 4 in May 2015. He dropped to No. 77 in October 2018 – his lowest ranking since he was No. 79 in August 2004 – but plays here ranked No. 57.
• Berdych is coached by Martin Stepanek.
NO. 20 GRIGOR DIMITROV (BUL) v THOMAS FABBIANO (ITA)
Head-to-head: first meeting
Dimitrov has lost 2 Grand Slam matches against players ranked as low as No. 102 Fabbiano – 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.
DIMITROV v FABBIANO
27 Age 29
21 ATP Ranking 102
8 Titles 0
52-33 Career Grand Slam Record 7-9
22-8 Australian Open Record 2-2
293-181 Career Record 19-40
188-115 Career Record – Hard 12-25
4-1 2019 Record 2-0
4-1 2019 Record – Hard 2-0
7-6 Career Five-Set Record 3-0
0 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
122-96 Career Tiebreak Record 10-17
0-1 2019 Tiebreak Record 2-1
• DIMITROV is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the 5th time. This is his 9th consecutive appearance at the Australian Open.
• Dimitrov advanced to the 3rd round here for the 6th straight year after defeating Janko Tipsarevic 46 63 61 64 in the 1st round on Monday and Pablo Cuevas 63 67(5) 63 75 in the 2nd round on Wednesday.
• Dimitrov is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 5th time and equal Katerina Maleeva’s record for most Australian Open round of 16 appearances by a Bulgarian player. Katerina Maleeva reached the round of 16 in the women’s singles here 5 times. Maleeva’s sisters are the only other Bulgarian players to have reached the last 16 here – Magdalena Maleeva on 4 occasions, and Manuela Maleeva on 2 occasions while representing Bulgaria and on 2 occasions while representing Switzerland.
• 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 5 men’s match notes
• The Australian Open is Dimitrov’s most successful Grand Slam in terms of matches won. He has a 22-8 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.
• FABBIANO is bidding to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the first time.
• Fabbiano advanced to the 3rd round here after defeating wild card Jason Kubler 64 76(1) 26 63 in the 1st round on Monday and Reilly Opelka 67(15) 62 64 36 76(5) in the 2nd round on Wednesday for his first Australian Open match-wins.
• At 32 points, the tiebreak in the first set of Fabbiano’s 2nd round match against Opelka is joint-2nd on the list for longest Australian Open tiebreaks in history. The longest tiebreak in Australian Open history came in Andy Roddick’s victory against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 1st round here in 2007 – Tsonga won the first set tiebreak 20-18 but lost the match in 4 sets.
• Fabbiano is one of 3 Italian men to reach the 3rd round here, along with Fabio Fognini and Andreas Seppi – the highest number of Italian men to reach the 3rd round here in the Open Era. Italy has had multiple representatives in the round of 16 of the men’s singles here on one previous occasion – last year, when Fognini and Seppi both reached the last 16.
• If Fabbiano, Fognini and Seppi all reach the round of 16, it will be the first time in the Open Era that 3 Italian men have reached the round of 16 at a Grand Slam. If 2 Italian men reach the round of 16, it will be the 7th time in the Open Era that Italy has had multiple representatives in the last 16 at a major.
• By reaching the 3rd round here, Fabbiano has equalled his best Grand Slam performance. He also reached the 3rd round at the 2017 US Open (l. Paolo Lorenzi) and 2018 Wimbledon (l. Stefanos Tsitsipas).
• Last year here Fabbiano fell to Alexander Zverev in the 1st round. He also fell in the 1st round on his only other appearance in the main draw here – as a qualifier in 2017 (l. Donald Young). He previously failed to qualify here from 2013-16.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018, Fabbiano reached the 2nd round at Roland Garros (d. Matthew Ebden, l. Borna Coric) but failed to qualify at the US Open, falling to JC Aragone in the 2nd round of qualifying.
• Fabbiano’s best Tour-level results in 2018 were reaching the quarterfinals at Istanbul (l. Jeremy Chardy) and the 3rd round at Wimbledon – the only occasions he recorded back-to-back Tour-level match-wins during 2018.
• Also in 2018, Fabbiano won the title at the Ningbo Challenger (CHN) (d. Prajnesh Gunneswaran) and reached the semifinals at 3 other Challenger events – at Tunis (TUN) (l. Daniel Gimeno-Traver), Aptos (USA) (l. Thanasi Kokkinakis) and Istanbul (TUR) (l. Quentin Halys).
• Prior to coming here Fabbiano attempted to qualify at Auckland but fell to Maximilian Marterer in the final round of qualifying.
• Fabbiano is bidding to record 3 consecutive Tour-level match-wins for the first time in his career. By reaching the 3rd round here, he has recorded back-to-back match-wins at Tour-level for the 5th time.
2019 Australian Open day 5 men’s match notes
• Fabbiano is bidding to defeat a Top 30 player for the first time on his 11th attempt. The highest-ranked player he has defeated is No. 32 Damir Dzumhur in the 2nd round at Istanbul last year. The highest-ranked players he has defeated at a Grand Slam are No. 73 Jordan Thompson in the 2nd round at the 2017 US Open and No. 73 Matthew Ebden in the 1st round at Roland Garros last year.
• Fabbiano’s 5-set victory against Opelka in the 2nd round here maintained his perfect record in 5-set matches – he has won all 3 five-set matches he has contested.
• Fabbiano reached a career-high ranking of No. 70 in September 2017. He plays here at No. 102.
• Fabbiano was a successful junior. He reached the semifinals of the boys’ singles at the 2007 Australian Open (l. Jonathan Eysseric) and the 2007 US Open (Jerzy Janowicz). He also won the boys’ doubles title at 2007 Junior Roland Garros alongside Andrei Karatchenia, defeating Kellen Damico/Eysseric in the final.
• Fabbiano is coached by Fabio Gorietti and Federico Torresi.
FRANCES TIAFOE (USA) v ANDREAS SEPPI (ITA)
Head-to-head: first meeting
TIAFOE v SEPPI
20* Age 34
39 ATP Ranking 35
1 Titles 3
7-11 Career Grand Slam Record 57-55
3-2 Australian Open Record 20-13
38-54 Career Record 357-375
27-38 Career Record – Hard 169-198
2-1 2019 Record 6-2
2-1 2019 Record – Hard 6-2
0-5 Career Five-Set Record 22-18
0 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 5
23-31 Career Tiebreak Record 138-173
1-1 2019 Tiebreak Record 2-1
*Turns 21 on 20 January
• TIAFOE is bidding to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for first time. This is his 3rd appearance at the Australian Open and his 12th Grand Slam overall.
• Tiafoe advanced to the 3rd round after defeating qualifier Prajnesh Gunneswaran 76(7) 63 63 in the 1st round on Monday and No. 5 seed Kevin Anderson 46 64 64 75 in the 2nd round on Wednesday. Ranked at No. 6 Anderson is the highest-ranked player Tiafoe has defeated.
• By reaching the 3rd round here, Tiafoe has recorded his best Australian Open performance. His previous best result was reaching the 2nd round as a qualifier on his Australian Open debut in 2017 (d. Mikhail Kukushkin, l. Alexander Zverev).
• By reaching the 3rd round, Tiafoe has equalled his best Grand Slam performance. He also reached the 3rd round at 2018 Wimbledon, where he lost 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, he also 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 at New York (l. Anderson) 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 reached a 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.
• SEPPI is bidding to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the 7th time in his career and equal his best Grand Slam performance.
2019 Australian Open day 5 men’s match notes
• Seppi advanced to the 3rd round here after defeating No. 31 seed Steve Johnson 64 46 64 63 in the 1st round on Monday and Jordan Thompson 63 64 64 in the 2nd round on Wednesday.
• Seppi is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the 5th time and extend his record for the most round of 16 appearances by an Italian man. Fabio Fognini is the only other Italian man to reach the round of 16 here on multiple occasions.
• Seppi is one of 3 Italian men to reach the 3rd round here, along with Thomas Fabbiano and Fognini – the highest number of Italian men to reach the 3rd round here in the Open Era. Italy has had multiple representatives in the round of 16 of the men’s singles here on one previous occasion – last year, when Fognini and Seppi both reached the last 16.
• Should Seppi, Fabbiano and Fognini all reach the round of 16, it will be the first time in the Open Era that 3 Italian men have reached the round of 16 at a Grand Slam. If 2 Italian men reach the round of 16, it will be the 7th time in the Open Era that Italy has had multiple representatives in the last 16 at a major.
• Last year here Seppi reached 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. This is his 56thth Grand Slam event overall. (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.
• The Australian Open is Seppi’s most successful Grand Slam in terms of matches won. He has a 20-13 win-loss record here, compared with 16-14 at Wimbledon, 11-13 at Roland Garros and 10-15 at the US Open.
• 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 statisics provided by the International Tennis Federation and Grand Slam Media
