Ever-improving Sydneysider Chris O’Connell has continued his spectacular profitable methods in Madrid, contemporary from having fun with one of the best event of his profession in Germany.
O’Connell, who defeated Alexander Zverev earlier than reaching solely his second ATP semi-final in Munich final week, was left celebrating a hard-earned 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 win over Serbian Filip Krajinovic within the first spherical of the Madrid Open on Thursday.
On a a lot quicker clay-court than he had performed on in Germany, and with the balls flying quicker at altitude within the Spanish capital, O’Connell tailored confidently to the change and can be kicking himself he didn’t wrap up his win within the Masters 1000 occasion an hour earlier.
Quite dominant for many of the first two units, the 28-year-old Aussie had held two match factors at 5-3 within the second, just for Krajinovic to summon up actual braveness and inspiration to rescue the sport, then take the initiative to dominate the tiebreak.
The world No.81 O’Connell, ranked two locations behind his opponent, appeared a bit shell-shocked and was instantly damaged initially of the deciding set.
But he is proven his resilience all season, and roared again, getting his massive forehand and serve working extra successfully once more – he delivered 15 aces in all – as he reeled off the subsequent 4 video games.
Krajinovic threatened extra resistance as he rescued two extra match factors however, ultimately, a weary-looking backhand into the web after two hours 19 minutes ensured O’Connell landed a troublesome second-round date with eighth seed Taylor Fritz.
He’s nonetheless the one Australian to have gained a match in Madrid to date, with compatriot Jason Kubler in a while Thursday struggling a complete 6-3 6-3 defeat to a different Serbian opponent, Dusan Lajovic.
Lajovic nonetheless would not appear to have come right down to earth after the largest triumph of his life in Banja Luka final week when he defeated his buddy Novak Djokovic en path to the second title of his profession.
The clay-court specialist was all the time in command in opposition to Australian No.3 Kubler, breaking him thrice whereas not giving up a single break level himself, reeling off the win in an hour and 23 minutes.
Alex de Minaur, who acquired a first-round bye, would be the final Australian to make his bow this yr when he performs qualifier Marco Cecchinato within the second spherical on Saturday.
Elsewhere, two-time Madrid champion Andy Murray misplaced to 164th-ranked qualifier Andrea Vavassori 6-2 7-6 (9-7) whereas former US Open champ Dominic Thiem beat one other Briton Kyle Edmund 6-4 6-1 to arrange a tasty-looking second-round match with Stefanos Tsitsipas.
“I am looking forward to that one a lot,” Thiem informed reporters. “I like him a lot. He is an unbelievable player, I like watching his matches. He is very elegant. We’ve had some great match-ups.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
