January 17, 2019 – It was another mostly successful day for Croatians in the Australian Open, as Borna Ćorić and Mate Pavić join Marin Čilić and Petra Martić in the round of 32.
Zagreb native Borna Ćorić plunged into the third round of the first Grand Slam tournament of the season, the Australian Open, after defeating Hungarian player Márton Fucsovics 6:4, 6:3, 6:4, who is 38th on the ATP ranking.
Ćorić had no difficulty advancing to the third round as the Hungarian representative had little chance against the excellent Borna, who smoothly sailed his way to win 3:0 after two hours and 16 minutes of play. His opponent in the third round will be the winner of Donskoy – Krajinović.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v=fuwpWb_I78w
On the other hand, Croatian tennis player Ivo Karlović, who is just shy of his 40th birthday next month, failed to advance to the third round of this year’s Australian Open Grand Slam tournament. While he put up an incredible fight, it was the 8th-seeded Japanese player Kei Nishikori to win 3:6, 6:7, 7:5, 7:5, 6:7 after 3 hours and 48 minutes of play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v=GwKxRZb_URo
In the almost four-hour thriller, Karlović smashed an unbelievable 59 aces past Nishikori during the match.
Nishikori replied: “That is almost how many aces I hit in one year!”
This was the sixth meeting between Karlović and Nishikori during the ATP tour and the fourth victory of the Japanese tennis player.
The Australian Open 2018 winner in doubles and mixed doubles, Mate Pavić, competed with partner Oliver Marach against the Italian duo Simone Bolelli and Andreas Seppi. Pavić and Marach won 7:5, 6:7 (7), 6:0 and will play Maximo Gonzalez and Nicolas Jarry in the round of 32.
Marin Čilić and Petra Martić will continue their journey in Australia on Friday. Croatia’s best tennis player will face Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco, while Petra Martić will have a tough job against the young American player Sloane Stephens.
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