All seven seeded players advanced in the Thursday afternoon session of the Australian Open in Melbourne, including 10-time tournament champion Novak Djokovic.
The fourth-seeded Serbian eased past Italian qualifier Francesco Maestrelli 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in second-round action. Djokovic had a 10-5 edge in aces and saved four of the five break points he faced.
In the afternoon’s most intriguing match, fifth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti ousted Lorenzo Sonego 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in a battle of top-40 Italian players and occasional doubles partners.
The top-ranked American, eighth-seeded Ben Shelton cruised past qualifier Dane Sweeny of Australia 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
In other action, No. 15 Karen Khachanov of Russia defeated U.S. qualifier Nishesh Basavareddy 6-1, 6-4, 6-3; No. 15 Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic dismissed Spanish qualifier Rafael Jodar of Spain, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4; No. 22 Italian Luciano Darderi got past Argentine Sebastian Baez, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3; and upstart No. 30 Valentin Vacherot of Monaco eliminated wild card Rinky Hijikata of Australia 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Former NCAA champion Ethan Quinn defeated Poland’s Hubert Hurcacz, 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-1 and will face Mensik in the third round.
Musetti put pressure on Sonego constantly, creating 23 break-point chances. Sonego fended 17 of those opportunities off, many of them in the early going. But Musetti broke in the eight game of the first set and games three and nine of the second set to take a 2-0 lead.
The final set featured five breaks of serve. Leading 5-4, Musetti withstood a 14-point final game, wrapping it up on his third match point.
“It was not an easy match against one of my best friends on tour,” Musetti said. “On court everyone wants to win. That’s not a secret. But it’s never easy to prepare for the match. To stay focused with the right attitude. I’ve done it today. I’m really, really proud of myself.”
Sonego committed 61 unforced errors and only won 13 of 39 second-serve points.
Shelton blistered 19 aces and endured only two double faults in a match that lasted 1 hour, 44 minutes. He did not face a break point and produced a winner-unforced error ratio of better than 2:1 (38-17).
Vacherot smacked 15 aces, won 50 of 60 first-serve points and saved 4 of 5 break-point chances. After Hijikata broke late to win the third set, Vacherot steadied, won 16 of 21 points on his serve and broke his opponent twice in the fourth set to advance.
Shelton will take on Vacherot in the third round. Three months ago, Vacherot stunned the world of tennis when he defeated five ranked players, including Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, and captured the ATP 1000 event in Shanghai. He qualified for the tournament and was ranked No. 204 at the time.
Khachanov will face Darderi in another third-round match.
–Field Level Media
