2019 Australian Open – Men’s Day 8 Match Notes and Preview

2019 AUSTRALIAN OPEN
DAY 8 MEN’S NOTES
Monday 21 January
Round of 16 Top Half

No. 1 Novak Djokovic (SRB) v No. 15 Daniil Medvedev (RUS)
No. 4 Alexander Zverev (GER) v No. 16 Milos Raonic (CAN)
No. 8 Kei Nishikori (JPN) v No. 23 Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)
No. 11 Borna Coric (CRO) v No. 28 Lucas Pouille (FRA)

On court today…
• Novak Djokovic will aim to take another step towards a record-breaking 7th Australian Open title when he faces No. 15 seed Daniil Medvedev on Rod Laver Arena. The Serb has won 6 titles in Melbourne, but has reached fewer quarterfinals here than at any of the other 3 majors. Victory tonight will see him reach a 10th quarterfinal here, which would make it 10 or more quarterfinal appearances at each of the 4 Grand Slams. Medvedev, who is in good form having reached the final at Brisbane earlier this month, is facing a world No. 1 for the first time and will become the first Russian man to reach the quarterfinals here since Nikolay Davydenko in 2010 if he claims an upset victory against Djokovic today.
• Alexander Zverev continues his quest for a maiden Grand Slam title against Milos Raonic on Rod Laver Arena today. Victory against the Canadian would see him take his place in the Australian Open quarterfinals for the first time – and become the 2nd German man to reach the last 8 here since Tommy Haas in 2007, after his older brother Mischa reached the quarterfinals here 2 years ago. He will have to record his first victory against a Top 20 opponent at a Grand Slam if he is to progress. Raonic, who defeated Zverev when they met in the round of 16 at 2017 Wimbledon, will aim to defeat a Top 5 opponent at a major for the 3rd time and extend his record for the most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances by a Canadian player.
• Kei Nishikori and Pablo Carreno Busta both came back from the brink in the 1st round here, with both forced to come from 0-2 down against qualifiers to avoid an early exit – but both have grown in confidence as the tournament has gone on, with Nishikori overcoming Joao Sousa in straight sets and Carreno Busta defeating No. 12 seed Fabio Fognini to reach this stage. Nishikori is looking to reach his 4th Australian Open quarterfinals, while Carreno Busta is aiming to reach the last 8 here for the first time.
• Borna Coric and Lucas Pouille were on opposite sides as Croatia defeated France to win the 2018 Davis Cup title in Lille in November. The duo did not play each other on that occasion – Coric won the opening rubber of the Final against Jeremy Chardy, while Pouille fell to Marin Cilic in the 4th rubber. Neither Coric nor Pouille had won a match at Melbourne Park prior to this year’s Australian Open, but now they stand on the brink of a quarterfinal appearance. Coric is aiming to reach his first major quarterfinal, while Pouille is looking to return to the last 8 of a Grand Slam for the first time since he reached back-to-back Grand Slam quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2016.

NO. 1 NOVAK DJOKOVIC (SRB) v NO. 15 DANIIL MEDVEDEV (RUS)
Head-to-head: Djokovic leads 2-0
2017 Davis Cup (WG-1R) Hard (I) R2 Djokovic 36 64 61 1-0 ret.
2017 Eastbourne Grass (O) SF Djokovic 64 64
A 3rd meeting for the 2 players. Medvedev retired in their only previous best-of-5-sets match – in Serbia’s Davis Cup World Group first round victory against Russia in 2017.
Medvedev is facing a world No. 1 for the first time. His career-best victory came against No. 3 Stan Wawrinka in the 1st round at 2017 Wimbledon. He has a 1-6 win-loss record against Top 5 opposition.

DJOKOVIC v MEDVEDEV
31 Age 22
1 ATP Ranking 19
72 Titles 3
261-41 Career Grand Slam Record 9-8
64-8 Australian Open Record 4-2
842-176 Career Record 77-54
545-102 Career Record – Hard 62-34
6-1 2019 Record 6-1
6-1 2019 Record – Hard 6-1
29-9 Career Five-Set Record 0-2
4 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
233-134 Career Tiebreak Record 25-21
0-1 2019 Tiebreak Record 2-1

• Six-time Australian Open champion DJOKOVIC is bidding to reach the quarterfinals for the 10th time – and the first time since 2016 – and equal Stefan Edberg in 3rd place on the list for most Australian Open quarterfinal appearances in the Open Era.
Most Australian Open quarterfinal appearances (Open Era) Player Australian Open quarterfinal appearances
Roger Federer*
15??
Rafael Nadal
11
Novak Djokovic
Stefan Edberg
10??
10
Ivan Lendl
John Newcombe
8
8
*NB written prior to Federer’s round of 16 match on Sunday
• Djokovic is also bidding to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam for the 43rd time. He is in 2nd place on the list for most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances in the Open Era, behind Roger Federer, who is bidding to reach his 54th quarterfinal at a major here.
• Djokovic advanced to the round of 16 after defeating qualifier Mitchell Krueger 63 62 62, wild card Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 63 75 64 and No. 25 seed Denis Shapovalov 63 64 46 60 in the opening 3 rounds here. This is his 15th appearance at the Australian Open and his 56th Grand Slam overall.
• By reaching the round of 16 here for the 12th time, Djokovic moved ahead of Stefan Edberg on the list for most Australian Open round of 16 appearances in the Open Era. He is in joint-2nd place on the list with Rafael Nadal. Federer, who reached the round of 16 for the 17th time here this year, is the only man to have reached the last 16 here more often.
• By reaching the round of 16, Djokovic has guaranteed that he will remain at No. 1 when the new rankings are released on Monday 28 January.
• Djokovic contested his 300th Grand Slam match against Krueger in in the 1st round. He is just the 2nd player after Federer to contest 300 matches at the Grand Slams.
• If he wins today Djokovic will face either No. 8 seed Kei Nishikori or No. 23 seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarterfinals. He leads Nishikori 15-2 and Carreno Busta 2-0 in their previous meetings.
• 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.
• The Australian Open is Djokovic’s most successful Grand Slam event in terms of titles won, but his 3rd-most successful event in terms of matches won and least successful event in terms of quarterfinals reached.

Grand Slam Titles won Win-loss record Quarterfinals reached
Australian Open
6
64-8
10??
Roland Garros
1
63-13
12
Wimbledon
4
65-10
10
US Open
3
69-10
11
• 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).
• 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 in 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.
2019 Australian Open day 8 men’s match notes
• MEDVEDEV is bidding to become the 8th Russian man to reach the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in the Open Era and the first since Nikolay Davydenko reached the last 8 here for the 4th time in 2010.
• Medvedev is also bidding to become the 11th Russian man to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam in the Open Era. He would also become just the 2nd Russian man to reach the last 8 at a major since Mikhail Youzhny reached his most-recent Grand Slam quarterfinal at the 2013 US Open – after Andrey Rublev reached the quarterfinals at the 2017 US Open.
• Medvedev advanced to the round of 16 after defeating qualifier Lloyd Harris 61 62 61, Ryan Harrison 63 63 63 and No. 21 seed David Goffin 62 76(3) 63 in the opening 3 rounds here. This is his 3rd appearance at the Australian Open and his 9th Grand Slam overall.
• If he wins today Medvedev will face either No. 8 seed Kei Nishikori or No. 23 seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarterfinals. He trails Nishikori 1-2 but leads Carreno Busta 2-1 in their previous meetings.
• By reaching the round of 16 here, Medvedev became 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 other Russian man to have reached the last 16 here is Andrey Kuznetsov in 2016.
• By reaching the round of 16 here, Medvedev has recorded his best Grand Slam performance. His previous best result at a major was reaching the 3rd round at 2018 Wimbledon (l. Adrian Mannarino) and the 2018 US Open (l. Borna Coric).
• By reaching the round of 16 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.
2019 Australian Open day 8 men’s match notes

NO. 4 ALEXANDER ZVEREV (GER) v NO. 16 MILOS RAONIC (CAN)
Head-to-head: Tied 1-1
2017 Rome Clay (O) QF Zverev 76(4) 61
2017 Wimbledon Grass (O) R16 Raonic 46 75 46 75 61
A 3rd meeting for the pair and their 2nd at a Grand Slam. Raonic won their only previous meeting at a major at 2017 Wimbledon in 5 sets. This is the pair’s first meeting on a hard court.

ZVEREV v RAONIC
21 Age 28
4 ATP Ranking 17
10 Titles 8
25-14 Career Grand Slam Record 79-29
7-3 Australian Open Record 26-8
178-89 Career Record 325-148
98-54 Career Record – Hard 220-93
3-0 2019 Record 5-1
3-0 2019 Record – Hard 5-1
9-6 Career Five-Set Record 9-7
0 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 1
64-47 Career Tiebreak Record 204-124
1-1 2019 Tiebreak Record 7-1

• ZVEREV is bidding to reach the quarterfinals here for the first time and equal his best Grand Slam performance. This is his 4th Australian Open appearance and his 15th Grand Slam overall.
• Zverev is bidding to become just the 2nd German man to reach the quarterfinals at the Australian Open since Tommy Haas in 2007. The only other German man to reach the last 8 here since 2007 is Zverev’s brother, Mischa, in 2017.
• Zverev progressed to the round of 16 after defeating Aljaz Bedene 64 61 64 in the 150th hard court match of his career, Jeremy Chardy 76(5) 64 57 67(6) 61 and wild card Alex Bolt 63 63 62 in the opening 3 rounds here.
• By reaching the round of 16 here, Zverev has recorded his best Australian Open result. His previous best result here was reaching the 3rd round in 2017, falling to Rafael Nadal in 5 sets, and in 2018, falling to Hyeon Chung in 5 sets. He fell in the 1st round (l. Andy Murray) on his Australian Open debut in 2016.
• 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.
• If he wins today, Zverev will face either No. 11 seed Borna Coric or No. 28 seed Lucas Pouille in the quarterfinals. He trails Coric 1-3 in their previous meetings and has never previously faced Pouille at Tour-level.
• 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 8 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, Pouille and Matthew Ebden, but falling to 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 Juan Martin del Potro won the title at the 2009 US Open aged 20 years 355 days. [NB Age calculated at the end of the tournament]
• Zverev is bidding to defeat a Top 20 player at a Grand Slam for the first time. He has lost all 6 of his previous meetings with Top 20 players at the Grand Slams. The highest-ranked player he has defeated at a Grand Slam is No. 29 Dzumhur in the 3rd round at 2018 Roland Garros. He has a 38-37 win-loss record against Top 20 opponents overall.
• The Australian Open is Zverev’s 2nd-most successful Grand Slam event in terms of matches won. He has a 7-3 win-loss record here, compared to an 8-4 win-loss record at Wimbledon, a 6-3 win-loss record at Roland Garros and a 4-4 win-loss record at the US Open.
• Zverev’s victory against Chardy in the 2nd round improved Zverev’s win-loss record in 5-set matches at the Australian Open to 2-2 and to 9-6 overall.
• 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 round of 16 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’s brother, Mischa, also entered the main draw here, but fell to wild card Alexei Popyrin in the 1st round.
• 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, to his team prior to the 2018 US Open. His fitness trainer is Jez Green and his physiotherapist is Hugo Gravil.
• RAONIC is bidding to reach the quarterfinals here for the 4th time.
• Raonic is bidding to reach his 9th Grand Slam quarterfinal and extend his record for the most Grand Slam quarterfinals reached by a Canadian player – man or woman – in history.
Player Grand Slam quarterfinals reached
Milos Raonic
8 (2015-17 Australian Open; 2014 Roland Garros; 2014, 2016-18 Wimbledon)
Carling Bassett-Seguso
4 (1983 Australian Open; 1984, 1986 Roland Garros; 1984 US Open)
Eugenie Bouchard
4 (2014-15 Australian Open; 2014 Roland Garros; 2014 Wimbledon)
Robert Powell3 (1908, 1910, 1912 Wimbledon)

• Raonic progressed to the round of 16 here for the 6th time after defeating Nick Kyrgios 64 76(5) 64, Stan Wawrinka 67(4) 76(6) 76(11) 76(5) and Pierre-Hugues Herbert 64 64 76(6) in the opening 3 rounds.
• If he wins today, Raonic will face either No. 11 seed Borna Coric or No. 28 seed Lucas Pouille in the quarterfinals. He leads Coric 1-0 and Pouille 3-0 in their previous meetings.
• 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).
• Raonic is bidding to defeat a Top 5 player at a Grand Slam for the 3rd time on his 11th attempt. His 2 victories against Top 5 players came against No. 4 Wawrinka in the round of 16 here in 2016 and against No. 3 Federer in the semifinals at 2016 Wimbledon. He has a 10-35 win-loss record against Top 5 opponents overall.
• Raonic has won 2 of the 3 five-set matches he has contested at the Australian Open. He has a 9-7 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• The Australian Open is Raonic’s most-successful Grand Slam event in terms of matches won. He has a 26-8 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.
• 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.

NO. 8 KEI NISHIKORI (JPN) v NO. 23 PABLO CARRENO BUSTA (ESP)
Head-to-head: first meeting
NISHIKORI v CARRENO BUSTA
29 Age 27
9 ATP Ranking 23
12 Titles 3
84-34 Career Grand Slam Record 27-20
26-8 Australian Open Record 8-5
381-176 Career Record 146-133
260-119 Career Record – Hard 70-64
7-0 2019 Record 4-1
7-0 2019 Record – Hard 4-1
20-6 Career Five-Set Record 4-8
3 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 2
119-79 Career Tiebreak Record 65-59
3-1 2019 Tiebreak Record 2-3

• NISHIKORI is bidding to reach the quarterfinals here for the 4th time and equal his best Australian Open result. This is his 9th Australian Open appearance and his 36th Grand Slam overall.
• Nishikori is also bidding to reach his 10th Grand Slam quarterfinal and extend his record for most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances by a Japanese player – man or woman. At 2017 Roland Garros, he took sole ownership of the record by reaching his 7th Grand Slam quarterfinal, ahead of Kimiko Date and Jiro Satoh, who both reached the last 8 at a major on 6 occasions.
• 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, and after he defeated Ivo Karlovic 63 76(6) 57 57 76(7) and Joao Sousa 76(1) 61 62 in the opening 3 rounds here.
• Nishikori’s victory against Majchrzak in the 1st round here was 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 has reached the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the 19th time. He has reached at least the round of 16 at 10 of the last 11 Grand Slams he has contested, with his only defeat prior to the last 16 coming at 2017 Wimbledon, when he fell to Roberto Bautista Agut in the 3rd round.
• If he wins today Nishikori will face either No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic or No. 15 seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals. He trails Djokovic 2-15 but leads Medvedev 2-1 in their previous meetings.
• Nishikori’s best Australian Open result is reaching the quarterfinals in 2012 (l. Andy Murray), 2015 (l. Stan Wawrinka) and 2016 (l. 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.
• The Australian Open is Nishikori’s best Grand Slam event in terms of matches won. He has a 26-8 win-loss record here – compared to 23-9 at the US Open, 18-8 at Roland Garros and 17-9 at Wimbledon.
• 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 8 men’s match notes
• Nishikori’s other highlights in 2018 were runner-up finishes at Monte Carlo-1000 (l. Rafael Nadal), Tokyo (l. 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.
• CARRENO BUSTA is bidding to reach the quarterfinals here for the first time. This is his 6th consecutive Australian Open appearance and his 21st Grand Slam overall.
• If Carreno Busta and Roberto Bautista Agut both reach the quarterfinals here, joining compatriot Rafael Nadal in the last 8, it will be the first time that Spain has had 3 representatives in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open since 1997, when Felix Mantilla, Carlos Moya and Albert Costa all reached the last 8 here. It would also be the first time that Spain has had 3 representatives in the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam since the 2013 US Open, when Nadal, David Ferrer and Tommy Robredo all reached the last 8. [NB written prior to the conclusion of Bautista Agut’s round of 16 match on Sunday]
• Carreno Busta advanced to the round of 16 after defeating qualifier Luca Vanni 67(5) 26 63 75 64, Ilya Ivashka 62 63 76(7) and No. 12 seed Fabio Fognini 63 36 76(7) 64 in the opening 3 rounds here.
• Carreno Busta’s victory against Vanni in the 1st round was the 2nd time in his career that he 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.
• If he wins today Carreno Busta will face either No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic or No. 15 seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals. He trails Djokovic 0-2 and Medvedev 1-2 in their previous meetings.
• By reaching the round of 16 Carreno Busta has equalled his best Australian Open result. He also reached the round of 16 last year 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 at 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 2nd victory against a Top 10 player at a Grand Slam. He has won one of his 8 meetings with Top 10 opposition at the majors, with his only victory coming against No. 6 Milos Raonic in the round of 16 at 2017 Roland Garros. He has a 3-24 win-loss record against Top 10 opposition overall.
• 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.
2019 Australian Open day 8 men’s match notes
• 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, before falling to No. 4 seeds Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan 63 76(4) 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. 11 BORNA CORIC (CRO) v NO. 28 LUCAS POUILLE (FRA)
Head-to-head: Coric leads 2-0
2016 Indian Wells-1000 Hard (O) R128 Coric 62 75
2018 Vienna Hard (l) R16 Coric 46 60 64
A 3rd Tour-level meeting for the 2 players and their 3rd on a hard court. It is their first meeting at a Grand Slam.
Prior to this tournament, neither Coric nor Pouille had won a match at the Australian Open. Coric had lost in the 1st round here on 4 occasions, while Pouille ended a streak of 5 straight 1st round defeats here.
Coric and Pouille were on opposite sides as Croatia defeated France in the 2018 Davis Cup Final in Lille in November. Coric won 5 of the 6 rubbers he contested in Croatia’s title-winning season. He has played Davis Cup since 2013 and has a 10-7 win-loss record in singles rubbers.
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. Pouille has a 7-4 win-loss record in the competition overall. Croatia and France have both secured places in the Davis Cup finals in Madrid on 18-24 November.

CORIC v POUILLE
22 Age 24
12 ATP Ranking 31
2 Titles 5
17-17 Career Grand Slam Record 24-19
3-4 Australian Open Record 3-5
119-105 Career Record 114-88
71-66 Career Record – Hard 69-55
3-0 2019 Record 3-1
3-0 2019 Record – Hard 3-1
4-3 Career Five-Set Record 9-3
0 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 1
47-44 Career Tiebreak Record 63-50
0-0 2019 Tiebreak Record 3-1

• CORIC is bidding to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam for the first time. This is his 5th Australian Open and 18th Grand Slam overall.
• Coric is bidding to become the 5th Croatian man to reach the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. Goran Ivanisevic, Goran Prpic, Ivan Ljubicic and Marin Cilic are the only Croatian men to have reached the quarterfinals here.
• Coric is bidding to become the 7th Croatian man to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam. Ivanisevic, Prpic, Mario Ancic, Ljubicic, Ivo Karlovic and Cilic are the only Croatian men to have reached the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam.
• If Coric and Cilic both reach the quarterfinals here, it will be the first time that Croatia has had multiple representatives in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. It would also be the first time that Croatia has had multiple representatives in the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam since 2006 Roland Garros, when Ancic and Ljubicic both reached the last 8. [NB written prior to Cilic’s match against Roberto Bautista Agut on Sunday]
• Coric advanced to the round of 16 after defeating Darcis 61 64 64, Marton Fucsovics 64 63 64 and Filip Krajinovic 26 63 64 63 in the opening 3 rounds to record his first Australian Open match-wins.
• By reaching the round of 16 here, Coric has equalled his best Grand Slam result. He also reached the round of 16 at the 2018 US Open, where he fell to Juan Martin del Potro in straight sets.
• If he wins today, Coric will face either No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev or No. 16 seed Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals. He leads Zverev 3-1 and trails Raonic 0-1 in their previous meetings.
2019 Australian Open day 8 men’s match notes
• 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 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.
• POUILLE is bidding to reach the quarterfinals here for the first time and equal his best Grand Slam performance. This is his 6th consecutive appearance at the Australian Open and his 20th Grand Slam overall.
• Pouille is bidding to become the 13th Frenchman to reach the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in the Open Era – and the first since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2017. Gael Monfils is the most-recent first time French quarterfinalist here in 2016.
• Pouille progressed to the round of 16 after defeating Mikhail Kukushkin 61 75 64, Maximilian Marterer 76(8) 76(8) 76(2) and wild card Alexei Popyrin 76(3) 63 67(10) 46 63 in the opening 3 rounds for his first Australian Open match-wins.
• By defeating Popyrin in the 3rd round, Pouille improved his win-loss record in 5-set matches at the Australian Open to 1-1. He has a 9-3 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• If he wins today, Pouille will face either No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev or No. 16 seed Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals. He trails Raonic 0-3 in their previous meetings and has never played Zverev at Tour-level.
• Pouille’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the quarterfinals at both 2016 Wimbledon (l. Tomas Berdych) and the 2016 US Open (l. Gael 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. 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 is bidding to defeat a Top 20 opponent at a Grand Slam for the 4th time. He has a 3-7 win-loss record against Top 20 players at the majors – with his 3 victories coming against No. 19 Bernard Tomic in the
2019 Australian Open day 8 men’s match notes
round of 16 at 2016 Wimbledon and No. 17 Roberto Bautista Agut and No. 5 Rafael Nadal at the 2016 US Open.
• Pouille broke the Top 10 for the first time, at No. 10, in March last year. He plays here at No. 31.
• 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