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Kyrgios explodes after Kokk warning! | 00:49
19-year-old Learner Tien has caused one of the tournament’s biggest upsets to date, beating endurance machine Daniil Medvedev in a five-set classic that lasted just a tick under as many hours.
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In a match that brought the Grand Slam’s first men’s super tie-breaker this summer, Tien and Medvedev played until 2:55am local time before a result could be reached. The final scoreline read 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (8-10), 1-6, 7-6 in favour of the American after four hours and 48 minutes of play.
Heading into this week, Tien had never passed the first round of a Grand Slam, having been knocked out in the first round of the US Open the last three years.
His evening against Medvedev began swimmingly, winning the first two sets to put himself in pole position for a major upset. But as history has told us so many times before, Medvedev never goes down without a fight. And if he takes you to a fifth set after trailing by two in Australia, you’re in for a long one.
Medvedev was able to scrape and save a match point during the third set tie-breaker before winning it. That spurred him on greatly in the fourth, where he completely and utterly dominated Tien to win 6-1.
Things looked grim for the teenage star heading into the final set, but he managed to keep his composure until he was broken straight after a brief rain delay, taking the fifth set scoreline at 5-6 in Medvedev’s favour.
Incredibly, and against all odds, Tien broke back to take the match to a super tie-breaker, which he eventually won 10-7. The left-hander’s forehand speed picked up noticeably at the back end of the match, in a bold move that ultimately paid off.
Medvedev struggled most of the night with his first serve in comparison to Tien, yet landed three times the number of aces (18) that his opponent could. Additionally, Medvedev also won twice as many return points (56-28), despite the eventual loss.
“I know I made it a lot harder than what it could’ve been, but whatever,” Tien tiredly joked during his post-match on-court interview.
Medvedev’s exit in the second round at the Australian Open is a seven-year first, having made the third round or further every year since 2017 until now.
Tien will next play Corentin Moutet, presumably on Saturday night to give the youngster as much time as possible to recover from the epic, gruelling match that was.
Earlier in the evening, Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis’ doubles comeback was short lived as they retired midway through the second set of their clash with fellow Australians James Duckworth and Aleksandar Vukic.
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis lasted an hour and one minute before calling it quits as Duckworth and Vukic led 7-5 3-2.
The question on everyone’s lips at Melbourne Park on Thursday was whether the ‘Specials Ks’ would play.
Kokkinakis said after his fifth set singles loss to 15th seed Jack Draper on Wednesday night that he was no chance of playing with his pectoral injury, and the uncertainty ultimately diminished the atmosphere.
John Cain Arena was not pumping like Kia Arena was during the early rounds of their stunning run to the 2022 doubles titles – the last time they took the court at the Australian Open together.
Instead, it was a bit flat as the capacity crowd knew they were not getting the show of three years ago.
Kokkinakis grimaced after every point and was sending down his first serves in the 130-145km/h range after averaging 187km/h with his first attempt the night prior.
Kyrgios knew his mate was struggling and was also being wary of his own abdominal problem.
They played through the pain admirably, but on the other side of the net were two Australians who were strictly business.
Vukic was in a hurry to get to sleep before his third-round singles clash with Draper, while Duckworth made the second round in the singles himself.
They combined well as a pair with Duckworth having made a quarter final at the Australian Open previously – alongside Marc Polmans in 2020 – while Vukic was clinical throughout.
But the crowd got some of the shenanigans and breathtaking shot-making they expected from Kyrgios and Kokkinakis.
They both hit underarm serves with Kyrgios doing so in his opening service game.
On the same point, which they lost, he opted to do a dinky little tap instead of smash when Duckworth and Vukic retreated well beyond the baseline.
But they did look threatening when whipping forehands, both crosscourt and down the line, to put away winners.
At the net, their hands were sharp as the point of the match came in the first set when the ball pinged back and forth like crazy, but Duckworth and Vukic still proved to be too good.
They seemed to always have an answer, and the frustrations of being well below their best boiled over for Kokkinakis when he sent a ball high into the crowd after losing that brilliant rally.
NCA. MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA. 16th January 2025. Day 5 Australian Open Tennis at Melbourne Park. James Duckworth and Aleksandar Vukic vs Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis on John Cain Arena. Thanasi Kokkinakis feels his shoulder during a change of ends. Picture: Michael KleinSource: News Corp AustraliaThe crowd loved it, but the chair umpire did not, handing out a warning which prompted a clash with Kyrgios.
“He doesn’t need to be here,” he could be heard saying to the umpire as he argued to let them be.
Just as things appeared to be really going downhill, they fought back to level the first set at 5-5 and make a contest of it before dropping it.
Their intensity lifted so much at that stage that they even accidentally ran into one another when hunting down a drop shot but holding serve to send the set to a tie-breaker was too big of an ask of Kokkinakis.
The second set was less chaotic as the match ticked along until Kyrgios and Kokkinakis retired when trailing 3-2.
SINNER SETTLES AFTER SCHOOLKATE’S FIRST SET SHOCK
Over on Rod Laver Arena earlier on Thursday night, Aussie wildcard Tristan Schoolkate managed to steal the first set off World No. 1 Jannik Sinner, before the 2024 Australian Open champion defeated him 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.
The 23-year-old Perth-born prodigy had a scrappy start in the opening game of the match, but managed to hold his own before beating Sinner for patience and endurance to win the first set.
Schoolkate’s approaching of the net was first-class, and clearly took Sinner by surprise.
As you would expect from the world’s best though, the Italian eventually broke the Australians serve in the second before finishing him off convincingly the next three sets.
“I felt like he was playing great tennis, especially (in) the first set,” Sinner told reporters in his post-match press conference.
“For one and a half (sets), he was serving much better than I was; he was playing some great tennis.
“I didn’t know him as a player that much, (it) was difficult for me … it was (a) tough match to get through.”
Sinner will play American Marcos Giron in the third round on Saturday, after his win earlier today over Argentinian
Tomás Martín Etcheverry in a five-set thriller.
PAOLINI PRANCES THROUGH
On Rod Laver Arena after Sinner and Schoolkate was Italian star Jasmine Paolini, who cruised through to the third round of the Australian Open, beating Mexican Renata Zarazua 6-2, 6-3.
Fascinatingly, 75% of games won in the match were from a break in serve with Paolini winning six, and Zarazua three.
The fourth seed Paolini will play Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina on Saturday in hopes of progressing through to the second week of the Grand Slam.
Re-live Night 5 of the Australian Open live in our blog below!
AUSTRALIAN OPEN NIGHT 5 ORDER OF PLAY
Show courts and Aussies – all times AEDT
Rod Laver Arena
Night session from 7pm
No. 1 Jannik Sinner (ITA) vs [WC] Tristan Schoolkate (AUS)
Renata Zarazúa (MEX) vs No. 4 Jasmine Paolini (ITA)
Margaret Court Arena
No. 19 Madison Keys (USA) vs Elena-Gabriela Ruse (ROM)
Learner Tien (USA) vs No. 5 Daniil Medvedev (RUS)
Show Court Arena
Not before 6:30pm
[Q] Destanee Aiava (AUS) vs No. 10 Danielle Collins
John Cain Arena
Nick Kyrgios/Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) vs Aleksandar Vukic/James Duckworth (AUS)
