Promising start to the Australian Open
Here’s a snapshot of the highs, the lows, plus photos – taken by AJN photographer Peter Haskin – from the first two rounds played at the 2022 Australian Open earlier this week, from a Jewish lens.
Round 3 will take place later today (January 21).
ASLAN KARATSEV
Russian-Israeli 20th seed Aslan Karatsev lived up to his nickname of ‘The Lion’ in the first round when he came back from a set down and trailing 0-3 in the second set against 70th-ranked Spaniard Jaume Munar, to eventually win at 12:27am on Tuesday morning, after almost 5 hours of high intensity tennis.
Karatsev won by 3-6 7-6 6-7 6-4 6-4.
Frustrated early on by a low first serve-in percentage and too many unforced errors, he received two code violations for hitting a ball into the stands, and smashing a racquet.
Always entertaining to watch for his willingness to go for his shots, and his all-court game, Karatsev – who was born in Russia but grew up in Israel, where his mother and sister still live – hit a whopping 87 winners and won 44 points at the net, to get on top of his opponent.
Reflecting on the match, he said,” I was talking to myself too much, and not focusing on my game . . . but in the end I wanted to win, so I had to find the right key”.
In the second round, Karatsev won a tough 4-setter against against 55th-ranked American Mackenzie McDonald 3-6 6-2 6-2 6-3 – a match in which he was more patient, and his serving considerately more effective.
His third round match tonight is against 69th-ranked Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.
DENIS SHAPOVALOV
The Israeli-born Canadian lefty, seeded 14, also did it the hard way in round one, needing 4 sets to overcome 51st-ranked Serb Laslo Djere, 7-6 6-4 3-6 7-6 in 3.5 hours.
His second round match against 54th-ranked Korean Soon-woo Kwon ended up even tougher. Shapovalov had to dig really deep to win that one 7-6 6-7 6-7 7-5 6-2.
“It was a super difficult match . . . but I did a good job of just flipping the script, I kept fighting, and I’m really happy to get away with it [the win],” Shapovalov said.
His third round match is against 23rd seed, American Reilly Opelka this afternoon.
CAMILA GIORGI
Big-hitting Jewish Italian Camila Giorgi, the 30th seed, had no trouble defeating Russian Anastasia Potapova 6-4 6-0 in her first round match, despite opting not to play in the AO lead-up tournaments.
“It was the first my first match of the year, so it was very important to get into the rhythm,” she said.
Giorgi then had a similarly straight forward second round win over 47th-ranked Czech Tereza Martincova 6-2 7-6.
Pleased with that win, she said, “It was a great match because it was very intense, and [played at] a very high level.”
“I love Melbourne, and I just enjoy to be here in Australia.”
Giorgi was due to play her third round match tonight, against none other than world number 1-ranked Aussie Ashleigh Barty.
DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN
The 13th seed, Argentine Diego Schwartzman, coasted to a first round victory over 36th-ranked Serb Filip Krajinov 6-3 6-4 7-5, despite suffering leg cramps in the final set.
But he was upset in the second round by Aussie Chris O’Connell, who is ranked 175th, but is definitely on the rise.
Disappointed at his loss, Schwartzman said, “It was a difficult match for me, and he [O’Connell] did great on court and he deserved the win. But I didn’t do a very good match”.
MADISON BRENGLE
Jewish American Madison Brengle, ranked 59, had one of her best years in singles on the tour last year, and she won her AO first round match over Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska 6-1 0-6 5-0, with her opponent retiring with injury near the end.
But she faced a much toughter challenge in her second round match on Wednesday night, in prime time on Rod Laver Arena, versus 13th seed, Japan’s Naomi Osaka.
That challenge proved too high, but after losing the first set 0-6, Brengle did put up a good fight in the second set, and at one stage it was 4-4, but Osaka lifted her game a notch to take the set 6-4, and the match.
DOUBLES
Aslan Karatsev, Israeli veteran Jonathan Ehrlich, and Madison Brengle, were all involved in first round doubles matches yesterday (January 20), but none emerged as winners.
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