Five Unseeded Players To Watch Out For In The Men’s Draw At The Australian Open - UBITENNIS
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Five Unseeded Players To Watch Out For In The Men’s Draw At The Australian Open

Meet the unseeded players hoping to cause a stir at Melbourne Park.

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Whilst the limelight will be on the prestigious Big Three at Melbourne Park, there is a group of underdogs in the men’s draw hoping that they can make their mark. 

A mixture of former grand slam finalists and rising stars pose a threat to the higher-ranked players in the men’s draw. Last year the best performance by an unseeded male player was Frances Tiafoe, who reached the quarter-finals. 

Here is a look at five underdogs who could pose a threat. 

Kevin Anderson 

A two-time Grand Slam runner-up, South Africa’s Kevin Anderson is still on the comeback from injury. Missing six months of the 2019 season due to a knee problem. He returned to action earlier this month at the ATP Cup, where he managed to take Novak Djokovic to two tiebreakers before losing his opening match. Following that, he scored victories over Benoit Paire and Christian Garin. 

“My biggest ambition is to get back into top-10. My best ranking is top-5, so I would like to get back there.” Anderson told reporters at the ATP Cup.
“But the two biggest goals is I want to win a Masters series. I feel like that’s something that I’m definitely a good enough tennis player to do that. I’ve put myself in good positions but haven’t quite taken that step. And then, obviously, the grand prize in tennis, a Grand Slam.”

The 33-year-old will open up his campaign against Ilya Ivashka. Then further in the draw, he could take on seeds Taylor Fritz and Dominic Thiem in the following two rounds. He is yet to play Fritz but interestingly holds a winning 7-2 head-to-head advantage over Thiem. 

Anderson is making his 13th appearance in Melbourne. His best run was to the fourth round of the tournament three consecutive times between 2013-2015. Last year he lost in the second round to Frances Tiafoe. 

Casper Ruud

Norway’s top player Casper Ruud has been slowly gathering momentum on the tour in recent weeks. At the ATP Cup, the 21-year-old broke new territory by scoring wins over top 20 players John Isner and Fabio Fognini. The first time in his career he has defeated top 20 opposition. 

“It’s great feedback for me to play three very good matches at the beginning of the year,” Ruud commented about his opening tournament. 
“I think this has been a very good start of the year and not practice but a good way to start before Melbourne.” He added. 

Playing in the Australian Open main draw for only the second time in his career, Ruud will start his campaign against world No.98 Egor Gerasimov. Somebody who has only ever won one main draw match at grand slam level. Should he get through his opening match, the Norweigan could play seventh seed Alexander Zverev. Zverev, who is currently trying to find his form on the court, is yet to win a match in 2020 after suffering three losses at the ATP Cup. 

Marin Cilic 

Whilst he has been far from his best in recent months, nobody should ever dismiss the threat posed by somebody as talented as Marin Cilic. Experiencing a rollercoaster 2019 season marred by injury, the former US Open champion now finds himself ranked 39th in the world. Placing him in danger of exiting the world’s top 40 for the first time since October 2013. Nevertheless, the 2018 runner-up in Melbourne is hoping he can return to his best. 

“I love the conditions (in Australia), I love the heat, the dry heat. That’s always been very beneficial for my game, as well. Hopefully, it’s going to turn out well in the Australian Open, too.” He told reporters on January 2nd. 

Cilic is set for a stern test early on at the Australian Open when he played Corentin Moutet in his opening match. Moutet is one of France’s most promising rising stars and recently reached his maiden ATP final in Doha. Also lurking is his section is Benoit Paire and Roberto Bautista Agut. 

Only once has Cilic lost in the first round of the tournament which was in his debut back in 2007. Heading into this year’s tournament, he has won 29 out of 40 matches played at the tournament. 

Jannik Sinner

The Italian sensation is the youngest player in the top 100 at the age of 18 and has already got the attention of many. Being described by John McEnroe as ‘one of the most talented kids in the last 10 years.’ Sinner broke through on the tour last year by winning Challenger titles in America and Italy. Then in November, he claimed the biggest trophy of his career by triumphing at the Next Gen Finals on home soil. 

Unfortunately for Sinner, he is yet to gain momentum in 2020 after losing his opening matches at two consecutive tournaments. In Canberra, he fell to Finnish world No.104 Emil Ruusuvuori. Then he Auckland he was bowed out by Paire. 

“The season, I didn’t start it as I wanted. We didn’t play so many matches before the Australian Open, so it’s not going to be easy for me. But I think we practiced well. Our off-season, we put in a lot of work so I feel great on-court… I felt here we especially tried to practice with the best guys,” Sinner told atptour.com. “Day after day, I feel better on the court, and we will see. The matches are always a little bit different, but hopefully, I can feel better than the first two matches.”

The Next Gen star will play Max Purcell in the first round. 

Ugo Humbert


After a disappointing start to 2020, France’s Ugo Humbert has found his form at the right time. Losing his second match at a challenger tournament in Canberra as the top seed, he then exceeded expectations at the ASB Classic in Auckland. The 21-year-old claimed his maiden ATP title after scoring a trio of high-profile wins. Getting the better of Denis Shapovalov, John Isner and Paire. Three players he had previously lost to. 

“I don’t know if I realize what I did but I am extremely happy,” Humbert commented on winning his maiden title. “It was tough, really tough, and emotional as well. It was a lot of work, a lot of improvement with my coach, in the pre-season and the months before.”

Humbert is currently ranked 57th in the world but did break into the top 50 last July. Besides his triumph in New Zealand, he has also won six Challenger titles since 2018. 

The Australian Open will be only the sixth grand slam main draw the Frenchman has featured in. He will play home favorite John Milman in the first round. Should he make it through to the last 32 in Melbourne, he could play Roger Federer. 

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Alcaraz Halts Sinner’s Winning Streak To Reach The Final In Indian Wells

Carlos Alcaraz earns the right to defend his title at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells fending off Jannik Sinner’s assault to his ATP no. 2 spot

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Jannik Sinner (left) and Carlos Alcaraz (right) - Indian Wells 2024 (photo Twitter X @BNPPARIBASOPEN)

All good things come to an end. Jannik Sinner was on a 19-match winning streak since his loss to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Nitto ATP Finals that included his first Grand Slam win in Australia last January, and appeared as the most in-form player at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the first Masters 1000 tournament of the season. But as he faced Carlos Alcaraz in an eagerly-awaited semifinal, he was unable to continue his quest for the third consecutive title of the season, succumbing to the Spaniard 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The match was a face-off for the no. 2 spot in the ATP ranking that Alcaraz will still occupy next Monday regardless of the result of Sunday’s final, and this is a much-needed confidence boost for him after a disappointing start of the season where he was handily beaten in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open by Zverev and did not win any tournament during the South American clay court swing where he was ousted by Nicolas Jarry in Buenos Aires and had to retire for an ankle injury at the Rio Open.

The match, originally scheduled for 1.30 pm Pacific Time, had to be suspended for over three hours after only three games because of an unusual downpour. As the match resumed, Sinner appeared once again the perfectly-tuned machine that had been crushing opponents with metronomic regularity for the past weeks while Alcaraz was struggling to keep up with his opponent’s pace from the baseline.

The first set was smooth sailing for the Italian who cruised to a comprehensive 6-1 in 27 minutes: Alcaraz was tentative from the baseline and could not find the right position to fire his screamers and change the tactical discourse of the match. “Then at the beginning of the second set, as I saw he was making a lot of mistakes, I tried to be as solid as possible when I should have kept pushing instead – Sinner said during his press conference – and that’s what cost me the match in the end”.

While serving at 1-2 in the second set, a few uncharacteristic forehand mistakes started to dot his thus far spotless game, and that cost him the break that sent Alcaraz flying to a 4-1 advantage. The Spaniard then found the confidence to change his return position and make Sinner work a lot more on his service games, as the Italian struggled to find a countermeasure to the tactical shift in the match: “I kept doing the same thing over and over again”, Sinner stressed, and forehand unforced errors started to pile up to reach the burdensome number of 27 at the end of the match.

Sinner had the chance to find his way back into the second set while Alcaraz was serving at 3-5, but Carlos cancelled his break point with a laser backhand down the line that had the 15,000-strong crowd cheering on their feet.

The third set ran away very quickly from the Italian, who started touching repeatedly the back of his left leg around his knee. Sinner got broken again during the third game, and while going for a last-ditch attempt to recover a short volley by Alcaraz he tumbled to the ground slightly injuring his right elbow and arm. From there onwards it was just more mistakes by Sinner and a clinical execution by Alcaraz on how to take home a match.

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“It Feels Great’ – Novak Djokovic Marks Indian Wells Return With Milestone Win

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Novak Djokovic - Indian Wells 2024 (foto Ubitennis)

Novak Djokovic says he still has a ‘great feeling’ in Indian Wells after playing his first match at the event for five years. 

The world No.1 battled to a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, win over Aleksandar Vukic in what was his first taste of competitive tennis since losing in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. It was a far from smooth encounter for Djokovic, who hit 23 winners and won 83% of his first service points. In the second set, he was broken twice with the second of those occurring when he was serving at 5-6. Nevertheless, he battled back in the decider to win. 

This year is the first time Djokovic has been able to play in the Masters 1000 event since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the 2020 tournament was cancelled, he was unable to play the next three editions due to restrictions placed on unvaccinated foreign visitors to America. Despite the absence, the five-time champion states that his love for the event is as strong as ever.

“It feels great to come back with the win. It’s been five years and the great feeling is still there. I enjoyed myself very much. Beautiful stadium. Great atmosphere.” Djokovic said during his press conference. 
“I was a bit nervous at the beginning. I haven’t played a match in more than five weeks. I thought the start was good. Then I think he upped his game.
“I probably lost a little bit of the momentum. We got into the third set, I thought the level of the tennis was pretty good in the third. Great points. He made me produce some really important points in games in order to prevail in this match. I’m glad that I was pushed, as well, which is important.”

Djokovic’s latest victory is his 400th in a Masters 1000 tournament. He is only the second player in history to have reached this milestone since the tournament category was introduced in 1990. The first to do so was Rafael Nadal who currently has 406 wins to his name. 

He could create more history in Indian Wells should the Serbian go on to claim the title this year. If he does, he would become the first man to have won it for a sixth time. Although Djokovic is refusing to get too far ahead of himself. 

“I would love to,” he said of trying to claim a sixth title. “Obviously there is still a long way to get to the title match, but it’s a good start.’
“I know I can always produce better tennis. Obviously very self-critical, and I think some extent it’s also important because then it puts you in the right mindset of wanting to work more and being engaged in the process of improving on a daily basis, or trying to perfect your game and right the wrongs that you’ve done in a previous match or previous practice session.
“So that’s what I’m going to keep doing and hopefully building my game as this tournament is played over 10 to 14 days, so it allows you to have the practice days also between matches, which then allows you to work on certain specifics in the game.”

Djokovic will play Italy’s Luca Nardi in the next round. 

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Carlos Alcaraz Brushes Aside Injury Doubts To Reach Indian Wells Third Round

Carlos Alcaraz is into the third round at Indian Wells after a three set win over Matteo Arnaldi.

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(@BNPPARIBASOPEN - Twitter)

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz overcame injury doubts to edge past Matteo Arnaldi 6-7(5) 6-0 6-1 at Indian Wells.

The world number two had to endure an aggressive opening set from the in-form Italian to reach the third round.

After a tight opening set, Alcaraz raced through the last two sets as he set up a third round showdown with Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The Spaniard had entered this match with injury doubts after retiring from his match with Thiago Monteiro in Rio De Janeiro.

However Alcaraz was very pleased with how his ankle held up as he moved on in California, “Honestly it surprised me. I felt great, moving normally without thinking about it,” Alcaraz told the ATP website.

“It was a really good match to realise that I am better than I thought. I think I played great tennis because of that. I had to change just a few things. I made a few mistakes in the first set… I had to put in more first serves in the second and third set, and I think that was a big key to improving my level a little bit, to be in the rallies — long rallies as well, to get the rhythm, and I’m really happy to get it at the end.

“But right now I’m getting better and feeling really, really well. But I think I have to get a good rhythm step by step. I think that’s the big difference between last year and this one. This [is a] really special tournament for me. I want to do it well. This is the first match playing high intensity and I didn’t know how it’s going respond, the ankle.

“I have to deal with it, but I didn’t deal with the nerves very well in the first set, moving differently, hitting the ball differently. My game is playing aggressive all the time. And try to stay calm and wait for my chances.

“When you get nervous, you don’t think about it. You don’t hit the ball as good as you want. You don’t move as good as you want. I think that’s the big difference.”

Alcaraz will hope for a good week this week as he defends the Indian Wells title as he aims to win a first title since Wimbledon this week.

Next for the Spaniard will be Felix Auger-Aliassime, who defeated Constant Lestienne in straight sets.

Auger-Aliassime currently leads the head-to-head 3-1 but Alcaraz won their last meeting in Indian Wells last year.

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