2019 AUSTRALIAN OPEN
DAY 6 MEN’S NOTES
Saturday 19 January
3rd Round Top Half

No. 1 Novak Djokovic (SRB) v No. 25 Denis Shapovalov (CAN)
No. 4 Alexander Zverev (GER) v (WC) Alex Bolt (AUS)
No. 8 Kei Nishikori (JPN) v Joao Sousa (POR)
No. 11 Borna Coric (CRO) v Filip Krajinovic (SRB)
No. 12 Fabio Fognini (ITA) v No. 23 Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)
No. 15 Daniil Medvedev (RUS) v No. 21 David Goffin (BEL)
No. 16 Milos Raonic (CAN) v Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA)
No. 28 Lucas Pouille (FRA) v (WC) Alexei Popyrin (AUS)

On court today…
• Novak Djokovic has the opportunity to secure the post-Australian Open world No. 1 ranking when he takes on No. 25 seed Denis Shapovalov on Rod Laver Arena this afternoon. The Serb will be confident of doing so when he faces the Canadian lefthander today – he has won 17 straight matches against lefthanders at the majors, having not lost to a lefthander since falling to Rafael Nadal in the final at 2014 Roland Garros. But he will not underestimate Shapovalov – the 19-year-old may be facing a world No. 1 for the first time today, but he has already recorded a victory against No. 2 Nadal and will be eager to go one better today.
• Marathon men Kei Nishikori and Joao Sousa will contest the 2nd match on Margaret Court Arena today, having both come through 2 five-set matches to reach the 3rd round. Both have played consecutive 5-set matches at the majors on one previous occasion – but neither has played 3 five-setters at a Grand Slam before, either consecutively or in total. When Nishikori last won 2 straight 5-set matches – against Milos Raonic and Stan Wawrinka at the 2014 US Open – he went on to defeat Djokovic in his next match before falling to Marin Cilic in the final. There is a long way to go until the final here, however, and the Japanese No. 1 will surely hope for a quick win today to maximise his chances of a run to the title here.
• Australian wild cards Alex Bolt and Alexei Popyrin return to action today after upset victories against Gilles Simon and Dominic Thiem, respectively, on Thursday. Bolt will play Alexander Zverev on Rod Laver Arena, while Popyrin faces Lucas Pouille on Margaret Court Arena. Victory for either would see them become just the 8th wild card in the Open Era to reach the round of 16 of the men’s singles here – and should the pair both claim upset victories, it would be the first time in the Open Era that 2 wild cards have reached the last 16 at the Australian Open.

NO. 1 NOVAK DJOKOVIC (SRB) v NO. 25 DENIS SHAPOVALOV (CAN)
Head-to-head: first meeting
If he wins today, Djokovic will guarantee that he remains at No. 1 when the new rankings are released on Monday 28 January. Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are the only two players in contention for the post-Australian Open world No. 1 ranking. Nadal can only return to No. 1 if he wins the title and Djokovic loses prior to the round of 16 here.
Djokovic is bidding to extend his 17-match winning streak against lefthanders at the Grand Slams. He has not lost to a lefthanded player at the majors since falling to Nadal in the final at 2014 Roland Garros. He has a 32-11 win-loss record against lefthanders at the Grand Slams and has a 107-35 win-loss record against ledthanders overall.

DJOKOVIC v SHAPOVALOV
31 Age 19
1 ATP Ranking 27
72 Titles 0
260-41 Career Grand Slam Record 10-6
63-8 Australian Open Record 3-1
841-176 Career Record 50-42
544-102 Career Record – Hard 39-30
5-1 2019 Record 2-1
5-1 2019 Record – Hard 2-1
29-9 Career Five-Set Record 3-2
4 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 1
233-134 Career Tiebreak Record 26-27
0-1 2019 Tiebreak Record 2-0

• Six-time Australian Open champion DJOKOVIC is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the 12th time. This is his 15th appearance at the Australian Open and his 56th Grand Slam overall.
• Djokovic advanced to the 3rd round after defeating qualifier Mitchell Krueger 63 62 62 in the 1st round here on Tuesday – his 300th Grand Slam match – and wild card Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 63 75 64 in the 2nd round on Thursday. He is just the 2nd player after Roger Federer to contest 300 matches at the Grand Slams.
• Djokovic has never lost in the 3rd round at the Australian Open and has not lost in the 3rd round at a Grand Slam since 2016 Wimbledon, when he fell to Sam Querrey in 4 sets.
• Djokovic 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 Roy Emerson (1961 and 1963-67) and Federer (2004, 2006-07, 2010, 2017-18).
• Djokovic is also bidding to win his 15th Grand Slam title and claim sole ownership of 3rd place on the all-time list for most Grand Slam men’s singles titles, ahead of Pete Sampras. Federer (20 major titles) and Nadal (17) are the only men to have won more Grand Slam titles than Djokovic.
• Djokovic is bidding to become the 8th man in history to win at least 7 titles at any Grand Slam event. Nadal holds the record for most men’s singles titles at a Grand Slam event with 11 Roland Garros titles. (see Preview page 2)
• Djokovic is bidding to win a 3rd consecutive Grand Slam title and become the first man in history to record 3 streaks of 3 or more consecutive Grand Slam titles. Djokovic won 3 straight Grand Slam titles in 2011-12 and became the first man to hold all 4 Grand Slam titles at once since Rod Laver in 1969 when he won 4 straight major titles in 2015-16. (see Preview page 3)
• In 2016 Djokovic equalled Emerson’s record of 6 Australian titles after defeating Andy Murray in the final. He also won the title here in 2008 (d. Tsonga), 2011 (d. Murray), 2012 (d. Nadal), 2013 (d. Murray) and 2015 (d. Murray).
2019 Australian Open day 6 men’s match notes
• Djokovic is a 14-time Grand Slam champion. In addition to his 6 titles here, he has won 4 titles at Wimbledon (2011, 2014-15 and 2018), 3 titles at the US Open (2011, 2015 and 2018) and one title at Roland Garros (2016).
• Last year here Djokovic reached the round of 16, falling to Hyeon Chung in straight sets.
• Elsewhere at Grand Slams in 2018, Djokovic won the titles at Wimbledon (d. Kevin Anderson) and the US Open (d. Juan Martin del Potro). At Roland Garros, he fell to Marco Cecchinato in the quarterfinals.
• Also in 2018, Djokovic won the titles at Cincinnati-1000 (d. Federer), becoming the first singles player to win the titles at all 9 Masters-1000 events, and Shanghai-1000 (d. Borna Coric). He also reached the final at Queen’s (l. Marin Cilic), Paris-1000 (l. Karen Khachanov) and the ATP Finals (l. Alexander Zverev). He has won a total of 72 Tour-level titles.
• Djokovic warmed up for the Australian Open by reaching the semifinals at Doha (l. Roberto Bautista Agut).
• This is the 19th Grand Slam at which Djokovic has been seeded No. 1 – but the first since 2016 US Open.
• Djokovic has won 9 of his last 10 five-set matches. His only defeat in a 5-set match that time came against Denis Istomin in the 2nd round here in 2017. He has a 5-3 win-loss record in 5-set matches here and a 29-9 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Djokovic plays here ranked No. 1 after clinching the year-end No. 1 ranking for the 5th time in 2018. He returned to No. 1 in November 2018 for the first time since October 2016.
• Djokovic is coached by Marian Vajda
• Lefthander SHAPOVALOV is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the first time and equal his best Grand Slam performance.
• Shapovalov advanced to the 3rd round and recorded his best Australian Open result after defeating Pablo Andujar 62 63 76(3) in the 1st round on Tuesday and Taro Daniel 63 76(2) 63 in the 2nd round on Thursday. This is his 2nd appearance at the Australian Open and his 7th major overall.
• Shapovalov’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the round of 16 as a qualifier at the 2017 US Open, where he fell to Pablo Carreno Busta. He became the youngest player to reach the round of 16 at the US Open since Michael Chang in 1989 and at a Grand Slam since Marat Safin at 1998 Roland Garros.
• If Shapovalov and Milos Raonic, who plays Pierre-Hugues Herbert today, both reach the round of 16 here, it will be the first time in history that Canada has multiple representatives in the round of 16 at a Grand Slam.
• Last year here, on his Australian Open debut, Shapovalov reached the 2nd round where he fell to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 5 sets. He has a 3-2 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018, Shapovalov reached the 3rd round at the US Open, where he defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime and Andreas Seppi before falling to Kevin Anderson in 5 sets, but fell in the 2nd round at 2018 Roland Garros (d. John Millman, l. Maximilian Marterer) and 2018 Wimbledon (d. Jeremy Chardy, l. Benoit Paire).
• Shapovalov’s best results in 2018 were reaching the semifinals at Delray Beach (l. Frances Tiafoe), Madrid-1000 (l. Alexander Zverev) and Tokyo (l. Daniil Medvedev). He also reached the quarterfinals at Eastbourne (l. Mischa Zverev) and St Petersburg (l. Martin Klizan).
• Prior to coming here Shapovalov competed at Auckland, but fell to Joao Sousa in the 1st round. He also played a match at the Kooyong Classic exhibition event, defeating Jack Sock in a match tiebreak.
• Shapovalov is bidding to defeat a Top 5 opponent at a Grand Slam for the first time on his 2nd attempt. The highest-ranked player he has defeated at a Grand Slam is No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets at the 2017 US Open and the highest-ranked player he has defeated is No. 2 Rafael Nadal at 2017 Montreal-1000. This is his first meeting with a world No. 1.
2019 Australian Open day 6 men’s match notes
• Shapovalov reached a career-high ranking of No. 23 in June last year. He plays here 4 places lower at No. 27.
• At 19 years 287 days, Shapovalov is the 2nd-youngest man to reach the 3rd round of the men’s singles here this year. (NB Age calculated at the end of the tournament).
• Shapovalov was a successful junior. He won the boys’ singles title at 2016 Wimbledon (d. Alex de Minaur) and was a member of the Canadian team that defeated Germany to win the 2015 Junior Davis Cup title. He reached the 2nd round on his only appearance in the boys’ singles here in 2015 (d. Hubert Hurkacz, l. Marc Polmans).
• Shapovalov made his Davis Cup debut in 2016 and has a 5-3 overall win-loss record in the competition. Canada will play Slovakia in the Davis Cup qualifiers in Bratislava on 1-2 February.
• Shapovalov is coached by Rob Steckley and his mother, Tessa Shapovalova.
2019 Australian Open day 6 men’s match notes
NO. 4 ALEXANDER ZVEREV (GER) v (WC) ALEX BOLT (AUS)
Head-to-head: first meeting
Zverev is facing an Australian opponent here for the first time. He has contested just 2 matches against a player at their home Grand Slam, defeating both Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Stephane Robert at 2016 Roland Garros. He has defeated the only Australian player he has faced at the Grand Slams – defeating James Duckworth in the 1st round at Wimbledon last year – and has a 10-3 win-loss record against Australian opposition at Tour-level overall.
Zverev is facing a wild card at the Australian Open for the first time. He has a 1-1 win-loss record against wild cards at the majors, with his only defeat coming on his Grand Slam debut at 2015 Wimbledon when he fell to Denis Kudla in the 2nd round.
Zverev has lost a Tour-level match to a player ranked as low as No. 155 Bolt on just one occasion – when he fell to No. 192 Florian Mayer in the final at 2016 Halle. The lowest-ranked player to defeat Zverev at a Grand Slam is No. 138 Ernests Gulbis in the 3rd round at Wimbledon last year. [NB He also fell to No. 209 Thanasi Kokkinakis at the 2018 Hopman Cup]

ZVEREV v BOLT
21 Age 26
4 ATP Ranking 155
10 Titles 0
24-14 Career Grand Slam Record 2-3
6-3 Australian Open Record 2-2
177-89 Career Record 3-11
97-54 Career Record – Hard 2-8
2-0 2019 Record 2-1
2-0 2019 Record – Hard 2-1
9-6 Career Five-Set Record 1-1
0 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
64-47 Career Tiebreak Record 3-1
1-1 2019 Tiebreak Record 1-0

• ZVEREV is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the first time. This is his 4th Australian Open appearance and his 15th Grand Slam overall.
• Zverev progressed to the 2nd round after defeating Aljaz Bedene 64 61 64 in the 150th hard court match of his career in the 1st round on Tuesday and Jeremy Chardy 76(5) 64 57 67(6) 61 in the 2nd round on Thursday. His victory against Chardy improved his win-loss record in 5-set matches at the Australian Open to 2-2 and to 9-6 overall.
• By reaching the 3rd round here, Zverev has equalled his best Australian Open result. He also reached the 3rd round here in 2017, falling to Rafael Nadal in 5 sets, and in 2018, falling to Hyeon Chung in 5 sets.
• Zverev’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the quarterfinals at 2018 Roland Garros (l. Dominic Thiem). He defeated Dusan Lajovic, Damir Dzumhur and Karen Khachanov in 5 sets en route to the last 8, becoming the 8th man in the Open Era to win 3 consecutive 5-set matches at Roland Garros.
• Elsewhere in Grand Slam play last year, Zverev reached the 3rd round at both Wimbledon (l. Ernests Gulbis) and the US Open (l. Philipp Kohlschreiber).
• Zverev’s best result in 2018 was winning the ATP Finals, defeating Roger Federer in the semifinals and Novak Djokovic in the final. At 21 years old, he became the youngest winner of the event since Djokovic in 2008 and the first German champion since Boris Becker in 1995. He also became the first player to defeat both Federer and Djokovic at the ATP Finals.
• Also in 2018, Zverev won the titles at Munich (d. Kohlschreiber), Madrid-1000 (d. Thiem) and Washington (d. Alex de Minaur). He finished runner-up at Miami-1000 (l. John Isner) and Rome-1000 (l. Nadal) and reached the semifinals at 4 other Tour-level events.
2019 Australian Open day 6 men’s match notes
• Zverev warmed up for the Australian Open by representing Germany at the Hopman Cup, where he and Angelique Kerber finished runner-up to Switzerland. He won 3 of his 4 singles matches, defeating David Ferrer, Lucas Pouille and Matthew Ebden, but falling to Roger Federer in the first rubber of the final.
• At 21 years 282 days, Zverev is looking to become the youngest Australian Open men’s singles champion since Djokovic won the title here in 2008 aged 20 years 250 days. He would also become the youngest Grand Slam champion since Del Potro won the title at the 2009 US Open aged 20 years 355 days. He is one of 17 men aged 21 or younger to begin the main draw here this year. [NB Age calculated at the end of the tournament]
• Zverev rose to a career-high ranking of No. 3 in November 2017, becoming the youngest player to break the Top 3 since Djokovic in 2007. He plays here one place lower at No. 4.
• Zverev is the only former junior Australian Open champion to reach the 3rd round from the 6 who started this year’s men’s main draw. He defeated Stefan Kozlov to win the boys’ singles title here in 2014. He also finished runner-up at 2013 Junior Roland Garros (l. Christian Garin) and was named 2013 ITF Junior World Champion. Stefan Edberg is the only player to have won both the junior and senior title here in the Open Era.
• Zverev is coached by his father, Alexander Zverev Sr. He added Ivan Lendl, who won the men’s singles title here in 1989 and 1990, prior to the 2018 US Open. His fitness trainer is Jez Green and his physiotherapist is Hugo Gravil.
• Wild card BOLT is bidding to reach the round of 16 at a major for the first time. This is his 3rd appearance at the Australian Open and his 4th Grand Slam overall.
• Bolt advanced to the 2nd round after defeating wild card Jack Sock 46 63 62 62 for his first Grand Slam match-win in the 1st round on Tuesday and No. 29 seed Gilles Simon 26 64 46 76(8) 64 in the 2nd round on Thursday, saving 4 match points in the 4th set tiebreak.
• Bolt is one of 3 Australian men to have reached the 3rd round here – along with Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin – from the 12 who started this year’s Australian Open main draw. If all 3 reach the round of 16, it will be the most Australian men in the round of 16 here since 1988, when 4 Australian men reached the last 16. If 2 Australian men reach the round of 16 here it will be the first time that Australia has had multiple representatives in the last 16 here since 2015, when Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic both reached the round of 16. [NB written prior to De Minaur’s 3rd round match against Rafael Nadal on Friday]
• Bolt is bidding to become the 8th wild card to reach the men’s singles round of 16 here in the Open Era. The last wild card to reach the round of 16 at the Australian Open was Denis Istomin in 2017. Fellow wild card Alexei Popyrin, who plays No. 28 seed Lucas Pouille today, is also bidding to achieve the feat here.
• If both Bolt and Popyrin reach the round of 16 here this year, it will be the first time in the Open Era that 2 wild cards have reached the men’s singles round of 16 at the Australian Open. It would be the 4th time in the Open Era that 2 wild cards have reached the round of 16 at a Grand Slam – and the first time since 2002 Roland Garros, when both Arnaud di Pasquale and Paul-Henri Mathieu reached the last 16.
• By both reaching the 3rd round here, Bolt and Popyrin have ensured that there are multiple wild cards in the 3rd round at the Australian Open for the first time since 2007, when Wayne Arthurs and Sam Querrey reached the 3rd round here. It is the first time that multiple wild cards have reached the 3rd round at a Grand Slam since 2015 Wimbledon, when Denis Kudla and James Ward reached the 3rd round.
• Bolt’s 5-set victory against Simon in the 2nd round here was his first victory in a 5-set match. He lost the only 5-set match he had previously contested – in the 1st round here last year here when, as a wild card, he fell to Viktor Troicki in 5 sets despite holding a 2-0 lead. He also fell in the 1st round on his only other appearance in the main draw here as a qualifier in 2017 (l. Yoshihito Nishioka).
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018, Bolt qualified for the main draw at Wimbledon but fell to Kyle Edmund in straight sets in the 1st round. He failed to qualify at both Roland Garros and the US Open.
• Bolt’s is bidding to record his 4th Tour-level match-win. His only Tour-level match-win prior to this tournament came in a 2nd round finish as a qualifier at ’s-Hertogenbosch last year (d. Vasek Pospisil, l. Mackenzie McDonald). He fell in the 1st round at the other 10 Tour-level events he has contested.

• Bolt played mainly at Challenger-level in 2018. His best result was winning the title as a qualifier at the Zhuhai Challenger (CHN) (d. Hubert Hurkacz). He also reached the final the Fairfield Challenger (USA) (l. Bjorn Fratangelo) and the semifinals at the Quijing Challenger (CHN) (l. Blaz Rola) and the Traralgon Challenger (AUS) (l. Yoshihito Nishioka).
• Bolt’s victory against No. 31 Simon was his career-best victory. The highest-ranked player he had previously defeated – at any level – is No. 84 Malek Jaziri in the quarterfinals at the Zhuhai Challenger last year.
• Bolt is one of the 4 lefthanders through to the 3rd round from the 19 who begin the men’s main draw here. The last lefthander to win the men’s singles title here is Rafael Nadal in 2009.
• Bolt reached a career-high ranking of No. 139 in October last year. He plays here at No. 159.
• Bolt entered the men’s doubles here as a wild card with Marc Polmans. The pair lost to No. 4 seeds Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan 76(4) 76(1) in the 1st round.
• Bolt is coached by Craig Tyzzer.

NO. 8 KEI NISHIKORI (JPN) v JOAO SOUSA (POR)
Head-to-head: Tied 1-1
2016 Tokyo Hard (O) R16 Sousa 3-4 ret. (left glute)
2017 Buenos Aires Clay (O) QF Nishikori 61 64
A 3rd Tour-level meeting for the players and their first at a Grand Slam. Their only previous hard court meeting – in the 2nd round at 2016 Tokyo – lasted just 7 games before Nishikori retired due to a left glute injury.
Both Nishikori and Sousa won their opening 2 matches here in 5 sets, with Nishikori defeating qualifier Kamil Majchrzak and Ivo Karlovic, and Sousa defeating Guido Pella and No. 32 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber. Neither Nishikori nor Sousa has ever contested 3 five-set matches at a Grand Slam tournament – either consecutively or in total.
Both Nishikori and Sousa have played 2 consecutive 5-set matches at a Grand Slam before. Nishikori defeated both Milos Raonic, in the round of 16, and Stan Wawrinka, in the quarterfinals, in 5 sets at the 2014 US Open. He defeated Novak Djokovic in 4 sets in his next match before falling to Marin Cilic in straight sets in the final. Sousa defeated both Grigor Dimitrov, in the 1st round, and Jarkko Nieminen, in the 2nd round, in 5 sets at the 2013 US Open, before falling to Djokovic in straight sets in his next match.

NISHIKORI v SOUSA
29 Age 29
9 ATP Ranking 44
12 Titles 3
83-34 Career Grand Slam Record 22-24
25-8 Australian Open Record 8-6
380-176 Career Record 174-185
259-119 Career Record – Hard 92-104
6-0 2019 Record 3-1
6-0 2019 Record – Hard 3-1
20-6 Career Five-Set Record 8-6
3 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
118-79 Career Tiebreak Record 66-66
2-1 2019 Tiebreak Record 3-1

• NISHIKORI is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the 7th time. This is his 9th Australian Open appearance and his 36th Grand Slam overall.
• Nishikori advanced to the 3rd round here after qualifier Kamil Majchrzak retired due to muscle cramping with Nishikori leading 36 67(6) 60 62 3-0 in the 1st round and Ivo Karlovic 63 76(6) 57 57 76(7) in the 2nd round. His victory against Majchrzak in the 1st round here is the 3rd time in he has successfully recovered from 0-2 down. His 2 five-set victories here have improved his win-loss record in 5-set matches at the Australian Open to 6-1 and to 20-6 overall.
• Nishikori is bidding to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the 19th time. He has reached at least the round of 16 at 9 of the last 10 Grand Slams he has contested, with his only defeat prior to the last 16 coming at 2017 Wimbledon, when he fell Roberto Bautista Agut in the 3rd round.
• Nishikori’s best Australian Open result is reaching the quarterfinals in 2012 (l. Andy Murray), 2015 (l. Stan Wawrinka) and 2016 (l. Novak Djokovic). He is the only Japanese man to reach the quarterfinals here in the Open Era.
• At the 2014 US Open, Nishikori became the first Asian male to contest a Grand Slam final after defeating three Top 10 players – Milos Raonic, Wawrinka and Djokovic – in consecutive matches before falling to Marin Cilic in the title match.
• Nishikori missed the Australian Open last year due to a wrist injury. On his last appearance here, in 2017, he reached the round of 16, falling to Roger Federer in 5 sets.
• In Grand Slam play last year Nishikori reached his 3rd semifinal at the US Open, falling to Djokovic. He also reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon (l. Djokovic) and the round of 16 at Roland Garros (l. Dominic Thiem).
2019 Australian Open day 6 men’s match notes
• Nishikori’s other highlights in 2018 were runner-up finishes at Monte Carlo-1000 (l. Rafael Nadal), Tokyo (l. Daniil Medvedev) and Vienna (l. Kevin Anderson). He also reached the semifinals at New York (l. Anderson), Metz (l. Matthias Bachinger) and reached the quarterfinals at 5 Tour-level events.
• Nishikori warmed up for the Australian Open by winning the title at Brisbane, defeating Medvedev in the final. It was his 12th career-title and his first since 2016 Memphis.
• Nishikori is the highest-ranked Japanese man in ATP World Tour Rankings history (since 1973). He had the nickname ‘Project 45’ as a major goal was to get him to No. 45 in the rankings, which would be one spot better than the highest by any Japanese man (Shuzo Matsuoka). He reached a career-high ranking of No. 4 in March 2015 and plays here at No. 9.
• Nishikori has played Davis Cup for Japan since 2008 and has a 20-3 overall win-loss record in the competition. Japan will play China, P.R. in the Davis Cup qualifiers in Guangzhou on 1-2 February.
• Nishikori is coached by Dante Bottini and Michael Chang. Chang finished as runner-up at the 1996 Australian Open, losing in the final to Boris Becker.
• SOUSA is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the first time and equal his best Grand Slam result. This is his 7th appearance at the Australian Open and his 25th Grand Slam overall.
• Sousa advanced to the 3rd round after defeating Guido Pella 76(2) 46 76(5) 46 62 in the 1st round on Tuesday and No. 32 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber 75 46 76(4) 57 64 in the 2nd round on Thursday. By winning both his matches here in 5 sets, he has improved his win-loss record in 5-set matches at the Australian Open to 3-1 and to 8-6 overall.
• Sousa’s his best Grand Slam result is reaching the round of 16 at the US Open last year. He defeated 2 seeded players, No. 12 Pablo Carreno Busta and No. 17 Lucas Pouille, before falling to No. 6 Novak Djokovic in the last 16. He is the only Portuguese player, man or woman, in history to have reached the round of 16 at a Grand Slam.
• By reaching the 3rd round here, Sousa has equalled his best Australian Open result. He also reached the 3rd round here in 2015 and 2016, losing to Andy Murray on both occasions.
• Last year here, Sousa reached the 2nd round. He defeated Dustin Brown in 5 sets in the 1st round before falling to Marin Cilic in straight sets.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018, Sousa fell in the 1st round at both Roland Garros (l. Pella) and Wimbledon (l. Sergiy Stakhovsky).
• Sousa’s best result in 2018 is winning his 3rd Tour-level title at Estoril (d. Frances Tiafoe), where he became the first Portuguese man to win a Tour-level tournament on home soil. He also reached the semifinals at Marrakech (l. Pablo Andujar) and Chengdu (l. Bernard Tomic) and the quarterfinals at Antalya (l. Adrian Mannarino).
• Prior to coming here, Sousa reached the 2nd round at Auckland (d. Denis Shapovalov, l. Cameron Norrie).
• Sousa is bidding to defeat a Top 10 player at a Grand Slam for the first time on his 12th attempt. He was won just 2 sets in his previous 11 meetings with Top 10 opposition at the majors. The highest-ranked player he has defeated at the majors is No. 12 Carreno Busta, who retired due to a left thigh injury during their 2nd round match at the US Open last year. He has a 4-28 win-loss record against Top 10 opposition overall.
• Sousa reached a career-high ranking of No. 28 in May 2016. He plays here at No. 44.
• Sousa entered the men’s doubles here with Leonardo Mayer. The pair defeated No. 14 seeds Feliciano Lopez/Marc Lopez 64 67(1) 63 in the 1st round and defeated Roberto Carballes Baena/Andrey Rublev in the 2nd round 76(5) 63 in the 2nd round. They will play Maximo Gonzalez/Nicolas Jarry in the 3rd round.
• Sousa has played Davis Cup for Portugal since 2008 and has a 31-21 overall win-loss record in the competition. Portugal will play Kazakhstan in the Davis Cup qualifiers in Astana on 1-2 February.
2019 Australian Open day 6 men’s match notes
• Sousa is coached by Frederico Marques.

NO. 11 BORNA CORIC (CRO) v FILIP KRAJINOVIC (SRB)
Head-to-head: first meeting
CORIC v FUCSOVICS
22 Age 26
12 ATP Ranking 93
2 Titles 0
16-17 Career Grand Slam Record 3-9
2-4 Australian Open Record 2-2
118-105 Career Record 37-49
70-66 Career Record – Hard 30-32
2-0 2019 Record 2-0
2-0 2019 Record – Hard 2-0
4-3 Career Five-Set Record 1-1
0 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 1
47-44 Career Tiebreak Record 13-15
0-0 2019 Tiebreak Record 3-0

• CORIC is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the first time and equal his best Grand Slam result. This is his 5th Australian Open and 18th Grand Slam overall.
• Coric advanced to the 2nd round after defeating Steve Darcis 61 64 64 in the 1st round on Tuesday and Marton Fucsovics 64 63 64 in the 2nd round on Thursday to record his first Australian Open match-wins.
• If Coric and Marin Cilic 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 Karlovic both reached the round of 16 here. [NB written prior to Cilic’s match against Fernando Verdasco on Friday]
• Coric’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the round of 16 at the 2018 US Open, where he fell to Juan Martin del Potro in straight sets.
• Coric lost in the 1st round on each of his 4 previous appearances here – in 2015 (l. Jeremy Chardy), 2016 (l. Albert Ramos-Vinolas), 2017 (l. Alexandr Dolgopolov) and 2018 (l. John Millman).
• Elsewhere in Grand Slam play in 2018, Coric reached the 3rd round at Roland Garros (l. Diego Schwartzman), and fell in the 1st round at Wimbledon (l. Daniil Medvedev).
• Coric’s best result in 2018 was winning his 2nd Tour-level title at Halle, where he defeated 9-time champion and No. 1 seed Roger Federer in the final. He also reached his first Masters-1000 final at Shanghai-1000 (l. Novak Djokovic), the semifinals at Indian Wells-1000 (l. Federer) and 4 Tour-level quarterfinals.
• Coric warmed up for the Australian Open at the Adelaide World Tennis Challenge exhibition event. He played 2 singles matches against Fernando Verdasco, losing the first on a match tiebreak and the 2nd in straight sets.
• Coric reached a career-high ranking of No. 12 in November last year. He plays here at the same ranking.
• Coric is a Davis Cup champion. He won 5 of the 6 rubbers he contested in Croatia’s title-winning season in 2018, including defeating Jeremy Chardy in the first rubber of the Final. Coric has played Davis Cup since 2013 and has a 10-7 win-loss record in singles rubbers. By winning the competition last year, Croatia has secured a place in the 2019 Davis Cup finals in Madrid on 18-24 November.
• Coric is a former junior world No. 1. He won the boys’ singles event at the 2013 US Open (d. Thanasi Kokkinakis), and reached the boys’ singles semifinals at the 2013 Australian Open (l. Kokkinakis) and 2013 Roland Garros, losing to eventual champion Christian Garin.
• Coric is coached by Riccardo Piatti and Kristijan Schneider. His physical trainer is Marino Basic.
2019 Australian Open day 6 men’s match notes
• KRAJINOVIC 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 10th Grand Slam overall.
• Krajinovic advanced to the 3rd round after defeating No. 17 seed Marco Cecchinato 46 06 61 76(8) 64 in the 1st round on Tuesday and Evgeny Donskoy 64 76(8) 76(2) in the 2nd round on Thursday for his first Australian Open match-wins.
• By reaching the 3rd round here, Krajinovic has recorded his best Grand Slam result. His previous best result at a major was a 2nd round finish at the 2015 US Open (d. Alejandro Gonzalez, l. David Ferrer). He fell in the 1st round on his 8 other appearances in the main draw at a Grand Slam.
• Krajinovic missed the 2018 Australian Open due to an ankle injury. On his last appearance here, in 2016, he retired in the 1st round with a right wrist injury against Denis Kudla.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018, Krajinovic fell in the 1st round at both Wimbledon (l. Nicolas Jarry) and the US Open, where he retired due to cramping in the 5th set against Matthew Ebden. He missed Roland Garros due to an ankle injury, and did not compete on the tour due to injury between a round of 16 finish at Miami-1000 (l. Juan Martin del Potro) and his 1st round defeat at Wimbledon.
• Krajinovic’s best result in 2018 was reaching the semifinals at Dubai (l. Lucas Pouille). He also reached the quarterfinals at Marseille (l. Pouille), Beijing (l. Del Potro) and Moscow (l. Andreas Seppi).
• Krajinovic did not contest a warm-up event prior to the Australian Open this year. He is making his first Tour-level appearance since falling to Karen Khachanov in the 1st round at Paris-1000 in November.
• Krajinovic is bidding to defeat a Top 20 opponent at a Grand Slam for the 2nd time on his 4th attempt. He recorded his first victory against a Top 20 player at the majors by defeating No. 18 Cecchinato in the 1st round here.
• Krajinovic’s victory against No. 18 Cecchinato ended a 9-match losing streak against Top 20 opposition. He had previously not defeated a Top 20 opponent since defeating No. 14 John Isner in the semifinals at 2017 Paris-1000. He has 5-14 win-loss record against Top 20 opposition overall.
• Krajinovic’s victory against Cecchinato, in which he recovered from 0-2 down, was his first victory in a 5-set match. It was the 2nd five-set match he had contested, having lost his only previous 5-set match to Ebden in the 1st round at the US Open last year.
• Krajinovic reached a career-high ranking of No. 26 in April last year. He dropped nearly 60 places after losing in the 1st round at Paris-1000 last year, having reached the final at that event in 2017. He plays here at No. 93.
• Krajinovic has played Davis Cup for Serbia since 2014. He has a 4-5 overall win-loss record in the competition. Serbia will play Uzbekistan in the Davis Cup qualifiers in Tashkent on 1-2 February.
• Krajinovic is coached by Thomas Johansson.
2019 Australian Open day 6 men’s match notes

NO. 12 FABIO FOGNINI (ITA) v NO. 23 PABLO CARRENO BUSTA (ESP)
Head-to-head: Carreno Busta leads 5-0
2013 Oeiras Clay (O) QF Carreno Busta 36 64 64
2016 Moscow Hard (I) FR Carreno Busta 46 63 62
2016 Paris-1000 Hard (l) R64 Carreno Busta 63 61
2017 Sao Paulo Clay (O) QF Carreno Busta 60 76(1)
2017 Monte Carlo-1000 Clay (O) R64 Carreno Busta 76(0) 67(4) 63
A 6th Tour-level meeting for the 2 players, but their first at a Grand Slam. Carreno Busta has won all 5 previous meetings between the pair, including their 2 clashes on a hard court.

FOGNINI v CARRENO BUSTA
31 Age 27
13 ATP Ranking 23
8 Titles 3
49-42 Career Grand Slam Record 26-20
10-11 Australian Open Record 7-5
331-282 Career Record 145-133
120-130 Career Record – Hard 69-64
3-1 2019 Record 3-1
3-1 2019 Record – Hard 3-1
18-13 Career Five-Set Record 4-8
7 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 2
118-95 Career Tiebreak Record 65-59
5-0 2019 Tiebreak Record 2-3

• FOGNINI is bidding to record his 50th Grand Slam match-win today.
• Fognini advanced to the 3rd round after Jaume Munar retired due to cramping while trailing 76(3) 76(3) 3-1 in their 1st round match on Tuesday and after defeating Leonardo Mayer 76(3) 63 76(5) in the 2nd round on Thursday in his 250th Tour-level hard-court match.
• Last year here, Fognini equalled his best Australian Open performance by reaching the round of 16, defeating Horacio Zeballos, Evgeny Donskoy and Julien Benneteau before losing to Tomas Berdych in straight sets. He also reached the round of 16 here in 2014 (l. Novak Djokovic).
• Fognini’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the quarterfinals at 2011 Roland Garros when he became the first Italian man to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam since Davide Sanguinetti at 1998 Wimbledon. He gave a walkover to Novak Djokovic in his quarterfinal match due to a thigh strain – the first time a player had given a walkover in the quarterfinals of the men’s singles at a Grand Slam since Stefan Edberg pulled out of his match with Thomas Muster at the 1989 Australian Open.
Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018, Fognini reached the round of 16 at Roland Garros (l. Marin Cilic), the 3rd round at Wimbledon (l. Jiri Vesely) and the 2nd round at the US Open (l. John MIllman). This is his 12th consecutive appearance at the Australian Open and his 44th Grand Slam overall.
• Fognini won a career-best 3 Tour-level titles in 2018 – at Sao Paulo (d. Nicolas Jarry), Bastad (d. Richard Gasguet) and Los Cabos (d. Juan Martin del Potro). He also reached the final at Chengdu (l. Bernard Tomic) and the semifinals at 5 other events.
• Fognini warmed up for the Australian Open by reaching the quarterfinals at Auckland, where he fell to Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets.
• Fognini reached a career-high ranking of No. 13 in March 2014. He plays here with the same ranking.
• Fognini is an Australian Open doubles champion. He partnered Simone Bolelli to the title here in 2015, defeating Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut to become the first all-Italian pairing to win a Grand Slam men’s doubles title since Nicola Pietrangeli/Orlando Sirola at 1959 Roland Garros and the first all-Italian pairing in history to win the Australian Open men’s doubles title.
2019 Australian Open day 6 men’s match notes
• Fognini has played Davis Cup for Italy since 2008 and has a 28-13 overall win-loss record in the competition. Italy will play India in the Davis Cup qualifiers in Kolkata on 1-2 February.
• Fognini is coached by Franco Davin.
• CARRENO BUSTA is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the 2nd time and equal his best Australian Open performance. This is his 6th consecutive Australian Open appearance and 21st Grand Slam overall.
• Carreno Busta advanced to the 3rd round after defeating qualifier Luca Vanni 67(5) 26 63 75 64 in the 1st round and Ilya Ivashka 62 63 76(7) in the 2nd round on Thursday. His victory against Vanni in the 1st round was the 2nd time in his career that Carreno Busta has successfully recovered from 0-2 down. He has a 2-2 win-loss record in 5-set matches here and a 4-8 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Last year here, Carreno Busta recorded his best Australian Open result by reaching the round of 16 before falling to Marin Cilic in 4 sets.
• Elsewhere in Grand Slam play in 2018, Carreno Busta reached the 3rd round at Roland Garros (l. Marco Cecchinato) and the 2nd round the US Open (l. Joao Sousa), but fell to Radu Albot in the 1st round at Wimbledon.
• Carreno Busta’s best results in 2018 were reaching 4 Tour-level semifinals – at Miami-1000 (l. Alexander Zverev), Barcelona (l. Stefanos Tsitsipas), Estoril (l. Frances Tiafoe) and Winston-Salem (l. Steve Johnson). He also reached the quarterfinals at 4 Tour-level events.
• Carreno Busta recorded his best Grand Slam performance at the 2017 US Open, where he reached the semifinals before falling to Kevin Anderson.
• Carreno Busta warmed up for the Australian Open by reaching the quarterfinals at Auckland (l. Jan-Lennard Struff).
• Carreno Busta is bidding to record his 3rd match-win against a Top 20 player a Grand Slam. He has a 2-9 win-loss record against Top 20 opponents at the Grand Slams, with both of his victories against Top 20 players at the majors coming at Roland Garros – against No. 6 Milos Raonic and No. 13 Grigor Dimitrov during his run to the quarterfinals in 2017. The highest-ranked player he has defeated at the Australian Open is No. 28 Gilles Muller in the 3rd round last year.
• Carreno Busta broke the Top 10, at No. 10, for the first time in his career after reaching the semifinals at the US Open in September 2017. He plays here at No. 23.
• Carreno Busta entered the men’s doubles here with Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. The pair defeated No. 15 seeds Rohan Bopanna/Divij Sharan 61 46 75 in the 1st round and Mao-Xin Gong/Ze Zhang 63 46 64 in the 2nd round. The pair face No. 4 seeds Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan in the 3rd round.
• Carreno Busta made his Davis Cup debut in 2016. He has a 2-2 win-loss record in Davis Cup singles. As a semifinalist in 2018, Spain guaranteed its place in the 2019 Davis Cup finals in Madrid on 18-24 November.
• Carreno Busta is coached by Samuel Lopez and Cesar Fagueras. His physical trainer is Walter Navarro.

NO. 15 DANIIL MEDVEDEV (RUS) v NO. 21 DAVID GOFFIN (BEL)
Head-to-head: first meeting

MEDVEDEV v GOFFIN
22 Age 28
19 ATP Ranking 22
3 Titles 4
8-8 Career Grand Slam Record 43-25
3-2 Australian Open Record 11-5
76-54 Career Record 231-145
61-34 Career Record – Hard 152-91
5-1 2019 Record 2-1
5-1 2019 Record – Hard 2-1
0-2 Career Five-Set Record 11-4
0 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 2
24-21 Career Tiebreak Record 69-72
1-1 2019 Tiebreak Record 0-1

• MEDVEDEV 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 9th Grand Slam overall.
• Medvedev advanced to the 3rd round here for the first time after defeating qualifier Lloyd Harris 61 62 61 in the 1st round on Tuesday and Ryan Harrison 63 63 63 in the 2nd round on Thursday.
• Medvedev 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, Medvedev has equalled his best Grand Slam performance. He also reached the 3rd round at 2018 Wimbledon (l. Adrian Mannarino) and the 2018 US Open (l. Borna Coric).
• By reaching the 3rd round here, Medvedev has recorded his best Australian Open performance. His previous best result here was a 2nd round finish last year (d. Thanasi Kokkinakis, l. Hyeon Chung).
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018, Medvedev fell to Lucas Pouille in the 1st round at Roland Garros.
• Medvedev won 3 Tour-level titles in 2018. He won the first Tour-level title of his career as a qualifier at Sydney (d. Alex de Minaur), and also won the titles at Winston-Salem (d. Steve Johnson) and as a qualifier at Tokyo (d. Kei Nishikori). He also reached the semifinals at Moscow (l. Karen Khachanov) and Basel (l. Roger Federer).
• Prior to coming here, Medvedev reached the final at Brisbane, falling to Nishikori in 3 sets. He withdrew from Sydney due to a right shoulder injury.
• Medvedev broke the Top 20 for the first time in October 2018 and ended the year ranked a career-high No. 16. He plays here 3 places lower at No. 19.
• Medvedev reached a career-high junior ranking of No. 13 in January 2014. He reached the 3rd round in his only appearance in the boys’ singles here in 2014 (l. Hyeon Chung).
• Medvedev has played Davis Cup for Russia since 2017 and has a 3-3 overall win-loss record in the competition. Russia will play Switzerland in the Davis Cup qualifiers in Biel on 1-2 February.
• Medvedev is coached by Gilles Cervara.
• GOFFIN is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the 3rd time. This is his 6th Australian Open appearance and his 26th Grand Slam overall.
2019 Australian Open day 6 men’s match notes
• Goffin is bidding to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the 10th time and claim sole ownership of 2nd place on the all-time list for most Grand Slam round of 16 appearances by a Belgian man, ahead of Xavier Malisse and Philippe Washer.

• Goffin advanced to the 3rd round here after defeating Christian Garin 60 62 62 in the 1st round on Tuesday and Marius Copil 57 75 62 64 in the 2nd round on Thursday.
• Goffin’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the quarterfinals on 2 occasions – at 2016 Roland Garros (l. Dominic Thiem) and here in 2017, when he fell to Grigor Dimitrov.
• Last year here Goffin reached the 2nd round (d. Matthias Bachinger, l. Julien Benneteau). It was his earliest Australian Open exit since 2015, when he also fell in the 2nd round (l. Marcos Baghdatis).
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018, Goffin reached the round of 16 at both Roland Garros (l. Marco Cecchinato) and the US Open (l. Marin Cilic), but fell to Matthew Ebden in the 1st round at Wimbledon.
• Goffin’s best results in 2018 were 4 semifinal finishes – at Montpellier (l. Richard Gasquet), Rotterdam, where he retired due to an eye injury against Dimitrov, Barcelona (l. Rafael Nadal) and Cincinnati-1000, where he retired due to a shoulder injury against Roger Federer.
• Prior to coming here, Goffin competed at Doha, where he fell to Ricardas Berankis in the 1st round. He also won his first Tour-level doubles title at Doha alongside Pierre-Hugues Herbert, defeating Robin Haase/Matwe Middelkoop in the final.
• Goffin has won just one of his last 6 meetings with Top 20 opposition at the Grand Slams. His only victory against a Top 20 player in that time came against No. 8 Thiem in the round of 16 here in 2017. He has a 2-13 win-loss record against Top 20 players at the majors and a 31-64 win-loss record against Top 20 opposition overall.
• The Australian Open is Goffin’s 2nd-most successful Grand Slam in terms of match-wins, after Roland Garros. He has an 11-5 win-loss record here – compared to 14-7 at Roland Garros, 10-7 at the US Open and 8-6 at Wimbledon.
• Goffin has won 9 of his last 10 five-set matches. His only defeat in a 5-set match in that time came against Milos Raonic in the round of 16 at 2016 Wimbledon. He has a 1-1 win-loss record in 5-set matches at the Australian Open and an 11-4 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Goffin became the first Belgian man to break the Top 10. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 7 in November 2017 but plays here at No. 22 – his lowest ranking since January 2015.
• Goffin has played Davis Cup for Belgium since 2012 and has a 23-6 overall win-loss record in the competition. He has helped Belgium reach 2 Davis Cup Finals, losing to Great Britain in 2015 and France in 2017. Belgium will play Brazil in the Davis Cup qualifiers in Uberlandia on 1-2 February.
• Goffin is coached by Thierry Van Cleemput.
2019 Australian Open day 6 men’s match notes

NO. 16 MILOS RAONIC (CAN) v PIERRE-HUGUES HERBERT (FRA)
Head-to-head: first meeting
RAONIC v HERBERT
28 Age 27
17 ATP Ranking 55
8 Titles 0
78-29 Career Grand Slam Record 13-16
25-8 Australian Open Record 4-3
324-148 Career Record 58-73
219-93 Career Record – Hard 43-53
4-1 2019 Record 4-1
4-1 2019 Record – Hard 4-1
9-7 Career Five-Set Record 2-1
1 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
203-124 Career Tiebreak Record 41-49
6-1 2019 Tiebreak Record 2-1

• RAONIC is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the 6th time.
• Raonic progressed to the 3rd round for the 8th time after defeating Nick Kyrgios 64 76(5) 64 in the 1st round on Tuesday and Stan Wawrinka 67(4) 76(6) 76(11) 76(5) in the 2nd round on Thursday.
• If Raonic and Denis Shapovalov, who plays Novak Djokovic today, both reach the round of 16 here, it will be the first time in history that Canada has multiple representatives in the round of 16 at a Grand Slam.
• Raonic’s best Australian Open result is reaching the semifinals in 2016 (l. Andy Murray). He was the first Canadian man – and only the 2nd Canadian player after Eugenie Bouchard – in history to reach the semifinals here.
• Raonic recorded his best Grand Slam result at 2016 Wimbledon when, as No. 6 seed, he became the first Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam final, falling to Murray in straight sets.
• This is Raonic’s 9th Australian Open and his 30th Grand Slam overall. Should he win his maiden Grand Slam title on his 30th attempt, he will be 5th on the Open Era list for most Grand Slam appearances before winning a first Grand Slam title. (see Preview page 5)
• Last year here, Raonic fell to Lukas Lacko in the 1st round.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams last year, Raonic reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the round of 16 at the US Open, losing to John Isner on both occasions. He missed Roland Garros with a knee injury.
• Raonic’s best result in 2018 was a runner-up finish at Stuttgart (l. Roger Federer). He also reached the semifinals at Indian Wells-1000 (l. Juan Martin del Potro) and the quarterfinals at Miami-1000 (l. Del Potro), Cincinnati-1000 (l. Novak Djokovic), Tokyo (l. Daniil Medvedev) and Wimbledon.
• Raonic warmed up for the Australian Open by reaching the quarterfinals at Brisbane (l. Medvedev).
• The Australian Open is Raonic’s most successful Grand Slam event in terms of matches won. He has a 25-8 win-loss record here, compared to a 24-8 win-loss record at Wimbledon, a 15-7 win-loss record at the US Open and a 14-6 win-loss record at Roland Garros.
• Raonic has won 8 Tour-level titles – most recently at 2016 Brisbane (d. Federer). All 8 of his titles have come on hard courts.
• Raonic reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 in November 2016 after reaching the semifinals at the ATP World Tour Finals, where he fell to Murray in the longest 3-set match in the tournament’s history at 3 hours 38 minutes. He plays here at No. 17.
2019 Australian Open day 6 men’s match notes
• Raonic has played Davis Cup for Canada since 2010 and has an 18-6 overall win-loss record in the competition. Canada will play Slovakia in the Davis Cup qualifiers in Bratislava on 1-2 February.
• Raonic was born in Montenegro but moved to Canada in 1994. He started playing tennis aged 8.
• Raonic is coached by Goran Ivanisevic, who reached the quarterfinals here in 1989, 1994 and 1997. His fitness trainers are Marino Basic and Avi Kowalsky.
• HERBERT is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the first time and record his best Grand Slam performance.
• Herbert advanced to the 3rd round after defeating Sam Querrey 57 76(6) 63 61 in the 1st round on Tuesday – his first Australian Open match-win since 2016 – and No. 24 seed Hyeon Chung 62 16 62 64 in the 2nd round on Thursday. This is his 4th appearance at the Australian Open and his 17th Grand Slam overall.
• Last year here, Herbert fell to Denis Istomin in the 1st round. Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2018, he reached the 3rd round at Roland Garros (l. John Isner) and the 2nd round at both Wimbledon (l. Alex de Minaur) and the US Open (l. Nick Kyrgios).
• By reaching the 3rd round here, Herbert equalled his best Grand Slam result. He has reached the 3rd round at a Grand Slam on 3 other occasions – on his Australian Open debut as a qualifier in 2016 (l. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga), and as a direct acceptance at 2016 Wimbledon (l. Nicolas Mahut) and at Roland Garros last year.
• Herbert’s best result in 2018 was reaching the final at Shenzhen (l. Yoshihito Nishioka). He also reached the quarterfinals at Pune (l. Marin Cilic) and Antalya (l. Damir Dzumhur).
• Prior to coming here Herbert reached the quarterfinals at Doha (l. Tomas Berdych). He defeated No. 8 Dominic Thiem in the 1st round to equal his career-best victory, having also defeated No. 8 Thiem in the quarterfinals at 2017 Rotterdam. He also won the doubles title at Doha with David Goffin, defeating Robin Haase/Matwe Middelkoop in the final.
• Herbert is bidding to defeat a Top 20 player at a Grand Slam for the 2nd time. His only victory against a Top 20 opponent at a major came at 2017 Wimbledon, when No. 20 Kyrgios retired due to a left hip injury in their 1st round match. He has a 5-21 win-loss record against Top 20 opposition overall.
• Herbert is bidding to defeat a seeded player at a Grand Slam for the 4th time. He has a 3-8 win-loss record against seeded opposition at the majors, with his victories coming against No. 21 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber in the 1st round at 2016 Wimbledon, No. 20 Nick Kyrgios in the 1st round at 2017 Wimbledon and No. 24 seed Chung in the 2nd round here this year.
• Herbert broke the Top 50 for the first time in October 2018. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 50 and plays here 5 places lower at No. 55.
• Herbert is a multiple Grand Slam men’s doubles champion. With Nicolas Mahut, he won the title at the 2015 US Open, where they became the first all-French team to win the US Open men’s doubles title, 2016 Wimbledon and at Roland Garros last year. He has won a total of 14 Tour-level doubles titles with 3 different partners.
• Herbert has entered the men’s doubles here with Mahut. As No. 5 seeds, the pair defeated David Marrero/Mischa Zverev 76(4) 63 in the 1st round and Denys Molchanov/Igor Zelenay 75 67(5) 64 in the 2nd round. They will play either No. 11 seeds Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury or Pablo Cuevas/Fernando Verdasco in the 3rd round.
• Herbert has played Davis Cup for France since 2016. He has a 7-1 win-loss record in Davis Cup doubles but lost the only singles rubber he has contested in the competition. He was a member of the French teams which won the title in 2017 (d. Belgium) and finished runner-up in 2018 (l. Croatia), winning the doubles rubber in both Finals. By reaching the Final last year, France has secured a place in the 2019 Davis Cup finals in Madrid on 18-24 November.
• Herbert is coached by Fabrice Santoro, who reached the quarterfinals here in 2006, Benjamin Balleret and his father Jean-Roch Herbert.

NO. 28 LUCAS POUILLE (FRA) v (WC) ALEXEI POPYRIN (AUS)
Head-to-head: first meeting
Pouille is facing an Australian player at the Australian Open for the first time. He has a 3-1 win-loss record against players at their home Grand Slams – he has a 2-1 win-loss record against fellow Frenchmen at Roland Garros and has won his only match against an American at the US Open. He has never faced a Brit at Wimbledon.
Pouille has won all 5 of his previous matches against wild cards at the Grand Slams. He has a 16-3 win-loss record against wild cards at Tour-level overall.
Pouille has lost a Grand Slam match to players ranked a low as No. 149 Popyrin on 2 previous occasions – to No. 207 Alexander Bublik in the 1st round here in 2017 and to No. 171 Dennis Novak in the 2nd round at Wimbledon last year.

POUILLE v POPYRIN
24 Age 19
31 ATP Ranking 149
5 Titles 0
23-19 Career Grand Slam Record 2-1
2-5 Australian Open Record 2-1
113-88 Career Record 3-6
68-55 Career Record – Hard 3-6
2-1 2019 Record 2-2
2-1 2019 Record – Hard 2-2
8-3 Career Five-Set Record 0-0
1 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
62-49 Career Tiebreak Record 3-3
2-0 2019 Tiebreak Record 1-2

• POUILLE is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the first time. This is his 6th consecutive appearance at the Australian Open and his 20th Grand Slam overall.
• Pouille progressed to the 3rd round after defeating Mikhail Kukushkin 61 75 64 for his first Australian Open match-win in the 1st round on Tuesday and Maximilian Marterer 76(8) 76(8) 57 64 in the 2nd round on Thursday.
• Pouille’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the quarterfinals at both 2016 Wimbledon (l. Tomas Berdych) and the 2016 US Open (l. Monfils).
• Last year here, Pouille fell to Ruben Bemelmans in the 1st round. He also fell in the 1st round in his previous 4 appearances here – as a wild card in 2014 (l. Dusan Lajovic) and 2015 (l. Gael Monfils), and as a direct acceptance in 2016 (l. Milos Raonic) and 2017 (l. Alexander Bublik).
• Elsewhere in Grand Slam play in 2018, Pouille reached the 3rd round at Roland Garros (l. Karen Khachanov) and the US Open (l. Joao Sousa), but fell in the 2nd round at Wimbledon (d. Denis Kudla, l. Dennis Novak).
• Pouille’s best result in 2018 was winning his 5th Tour-level title as a wild card at Montpellier. He saved 2 match points against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinals before defeating Richard Gasquet in the title match. He also reached the final at Marseille (l. Khachanov) and Dubai (l. Roberto Bautista Agut), and the semifinals at Stuttgart (l. Raonic).
• Prior to coming here, Pouille competed at Sydney, where he fell to Andrey Rublev in the 1st round. He also represented France at the Hopman Cup where he lost all 3 of his singles matches, falling to Matthew Ebden, Alexander Zverev and David Ferrer.
• Pouille broke the Top 10 for the first time, at No. 10, in March last year. He plays here at No. 31.
2019 Australian Open day 6 men’s match notes
• Pouille has played Davis Cup for France since 2016 and defeated Steve Darcis in the decisive 5th rubber in the 2017 Final against Belgium to give France its first Davis Cup title since 2001. He also featured in the 2018 Final as France were defeated by Croatia. Pouille has a 7-4 win-loss record in the competition overall. By reaching the Final last year, France has secured a place in the Davis Cup finals in Madrid on 18-24 November.
• Pouille reached a career-high ranking of No. 23 on the junior circuit. He reached the quarterfinals of the boys’ singles event at the 2011 Australian Open and the 2nd round as a wild card at 2010 Junior Roland Garros. He was a member of the French team that finished runner-up to USA at the 2008 World Junior Tennis Finals.
• Pouille is coached by Amelie Mauresmo.
• Wild card POPYRIN is bidding to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the first time on his 2nd Grand Slam appearance.
• Popyrin advanced to the 3rd round after defeating Mischa Zverev 75 76(7) 64 for his first Grand Slam match-win in the 1st round on Tuesday and Dominic Thiem retired due to illness in their 2nd round match on Thursday while trailing 75 64 2-0.
• Popyrin is one of 3 Australian men to have reached the 3rd round here – along with Alex de Minaur and Alex Bolt – from the 12 who started this year’s Australian Open main draw. If all 3 reach the round of 16, it will be the most Australian men in the round of 16 here since 1988, when 4 Australian men reached the last 16. If 2 Australian men reach the round of 16 here it will be the first time that Australia has had multiple representatives in the last 16 here since 2015, when Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic both reached the round of 16. [NB written prior to De Minaur’s 3rd round match against Rafael Nadal on Friday]
• Popyrin is bidding to become the 8th wild card to reach the men’s singles round of 16 here in the Open Era. The last wild card to reach the round of 16 at the Australian Open was Denis Istomin in 2017. Fellow wild card Alex Bolt, who plays No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev today, is also bidding to achieve the feat here.
• If both Popyrin and Bolt reach the round of 16 here this year, it will be the first time in the Open Era that 2 wild cards have reached the men’s singles round of 16 at the Australian Open. It would be the 4th time in the Open Era that 2 wild cards have reached the round of 16 at a Grand Slam – and the first time since 2002 Roland Garros, when both Arnaud di Pasquale and Paul-Henri Mathieu reached the last 16.
• Last year here, as a wild card on his only previous Grand Slam appearance, Popyrin fell to Tim Smyczek in the 1st round. He did not attempt to qualify at any of the other 3 Grand Slams in 2018.
• Popyrin is bidding to record his 4th Tour-level match-win. His only Tour-level match-win prior to this tournament came in a 2nd round finish as a qualifier at Basel (d. Matthew Ebden, l. Alexander Zverev). He lost in the 1st round on his 5 other Tour-level appearances.
• Popyrin’s victory against No. 8 Thiem in the 2nd round was his career-best victory. The highest-ranked player he had previously defeated was No. 39 Ebden at 2018 Basel.
• Popyrin played mainly at Challenger-level in 2018. His best result was winning the title at the Jinan Challenger (CHN) (d. James Ward) and reached the semifinals at the Astana Challenger (KAZ) (l. Sebastian Ofner). He also reached the quarterfinals at 4 other Challenger events.
• Prior to coming here Popyrin competed as a wild card both Brisbane and Sydney. He lost in the 1st round at both events – to Alex de Minaur at Brisbane and to Martin Klizan at Sydney. He also contested a match at the Kooyong Classic exhibition event, losing to Marc Polmans in a match tiebreak.
• By both reaching the 3rd round here, Popyrin and Bolt have ensured that there are multiple wild cards in the 3rd round at the Australian Open for the first time since 2007, when Wayne Arthurs and Sam Querrey reached the 3rd round here. It is the first time that multiple wild cards have reached the 3rd round at a Grand Slam since 2015 Wimbledon, when Denis Kudla and James Ward reached the 3rd round.
• Popyrin improved his ranking by more than 450 places during 2018. He began the season ranked at No. 622 and reached a career-high ranking of No. 147 by December. He plays here ranked 2 places lower at No. 149.
2019 Australian Open day 6 men’s match notes
• At 19 years 175 days, Popyrin is the youngest man to reach the 3rd round of the men’s singles here this year. (NB Age calculated at the end of the tournament)
• Popyrin was a successful junior. He won the boys’ singles title at 2017 Roland Garros (d. Nicola Kuhn) and reached a career-high junior ranking of No. 2. His best result at the Junior Australian Open was a 2nd round finish in 2017 (d. Ajeet Rai, l. Alexey Zakharov).
• Popyrin entered the men’s doubles here as a wild card with Blake Ellis. The pair defeated Guillermo Duran/Diego Schwartzman 76(6) 64 and face Marcelo Arevalo/James Cerretani in the 2nd round.
• Popyrin is coached by Rohan Williams.

*****All statistics courtesy of the International Tennis Federation and Grand Slam media.