Three seeded men’s players advanced with relative ease to the third round of the Australian Open in ideal Melbourne conditions on day four of the tournament.
No. 13 Andrey Rublev of Russia had the toughest test of the afternoon, but prevailed over qualifier Jaime Faria of Portugal, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
No. 18 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina served up ten aces and just one double fault in a 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 victory over Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and No. 19 Tommy Paul continued to look impressive as he dispatched of Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
Paul took advantage of Tirante’s second serve, winning 26 of 37 (70%), which led to his four breaks in the match. The 28-year old American has yet to drop a service game in Melbourne.
Faria actually created more break point chances than Rublev, but could only convert 2 of 12, while Rublev took advantage of 5 of 9 opportunities.
Faria broke Rublev in the third game of the third set and battled back from 0-30 down in the eighth game to maintain his lead. He rallied to knot the fourth set at 5-5, but the fiery Russian won the final four points on Faria’s serve in the 12th game to prevail.
Rublev admitted after the match that he didn’t know Faria at all. But he discovered that the 22-year old had taken a set from Novak Djokovic one year ago.
“I started to look at how he was playing and I was like, ‘Wow, how (is) this guy in the (qualifiers)?’ The level he was playing at was quite good,” said Rublev. “He has an amazing serve, an amazing backhand. … His level is much better. I knew it was going to be a tough match.”
Rublev will face Cerundolo in an appetizing third-round matchup. The Argentine has taken three of four matches from Rublev, but they have never played on outdoor hard courts and did not face off in 2025.
In other afternoon matches, Fabian Marozsan of Hungary defeated Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (5), and Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry eliminated Great Britain’s Arthur Ferry, 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-3.
–Field Level Media
