All eyes will be on the Margaret Court Arena as Novak Djokovic starts his comeback to the tour. The former world No.1 hasn’t played since Wimbledon due injury. Leaving many intrigued about how he will fair in Melbourne this year. Day two at the Australian Open will be focused on the comeback kids with Juan Martin del Potro and Thanasi Kokkinakis also getting their campaigns underway. Both of whom have been marred by injury in the past.
Here are the five must-see matches on the second day of the Australian Open.
Novak Djokovic vs. Donald Young
This will be Djokovic’s first match in 6 months, since he retired during his Wimbledon quarterfinal match against Tomas Berdych. But what condition is his elbow in? He pulled out of playing Abu Dhabi and Doha within the past few weeks due to the elbow not being 100%. During practice sessions this past week in Melbourne, he’s been using a different service motion in an effort to put less stress on his elbow. He’s also debuting a new coaching team, which includes Andre Agassi, Radek Stepanek, and strategist Craig O’Shannessy. There’s no way to know what to expect from the six-time Australian Open champion, so all eyes will be on this match to see how Djokovic plays. Young is coming off an unimpressive 2017, and is 0-2 against Djokovic, so Novak should win this one easily if his elbow cooperates.
Danil Medvedev vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis
Medvedev just won the first title of his career on Saturday in Sydney, coming through qualifying to eventually defeat young Aussie sensation Alex De Minaur in a thrilling final. On Tuesday, he’ll play a different Aussie in fellow 21-year-old Kokkinakis. Thanasi has struggled with injuries over the past few seasons, but has shown signs of rejuvenating his career. Last summer, he upset Milos Raonic at Queen’s Club. Kokkinakis also defeated Tomas Berdych on his way to the final in Los Cabos. And earlier this month, he upset Alexander Zverev at the Hopman Cup. Kokkinakis will be eager to get a big win in front of his home crowd. Will Medvedev be drained after the best week of his career, or will he be able to build on the momentum? These two met twice in 2017, with Medvedev winning both meetings without dropping a set. This could be a great first round battle between two ATP Next Gen players.
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni vs. Shelby Rogers
Both women are coming off a year of emotional highs (as I recently outlined here and here). A year ago in Melbourne, Lucic-Baroni advanced to her first major final since 18 years prior. Also at last year’s Australian Open, Rogers took out Simona Halep in the first round. Another upset could be in the cards here: just last week in Sydney, Lucic-Baroni was forced to retire from her match against Petra Kvitova due to illness. Mirjana is 2-0 lifetime against Rogers, with both meetings taking place last year. This is a tough first round draw for Lucic-Baroni as she tries to recapture the magic of last year’s Australian fortnight.
Tomas Berdych vs. Alex De Minaur
De Minaur has been the talk of the Australian summer in the tennis world. The 18-year-old Aussie came into the year ranked outside the top 200. With Lleyton Hewitt in his coaching box, he made it to the semifinals in Brisbane and the final in Sydney. He’s defeated six top 50 players in the past two weeks. Berdych does not arrive in Melbourne with much confidence. After advancing to the semifinals at Wimbledon in July, he went just 4-4 before shutting down his season early due to a back injury. He lost his only match of 2018 to Jan-Lennard Struff in Doha. De Minaur will surely have an energized Aussie crowd on his side in this evening match on Hisense Arena. If he has enough left after all the tennis he’s played in the last two weeks, there’s a good chance for De Minaur to pull off the upset.
Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Frances Tiafoe
This will be the final match of the evening on Margaret Court Arena. It will also be Del Potro’s first match at the Australian Open since 2014. He skipped last year’s event to give his wrist a rest, and also missed the two prior year’s events due to wrist injuries. But Juan Martin is in good form now. This week he returns to the top 10 for the first time in three-and-a-half years. This is thanks to going 23-6 since the start of the US Open, including a run to the final just last week in Auckland. His opponent on Tuesday turns 20 this week, and at the last major took Roger Federer to five sets. Tiafoe also took Del Potro the distance in their only previous meeting. In Acapulco last year, Francis lost to Juan Martin in a final set tiebreak. Del Potro will be the favourite to prevail, but this could be an interesting match against the young American.
Australian Open schedule for day two (All times UK)
Rod Laver Arena – midnight
CEPEDE ROYG, Veronica (PAR) vs PLISKOVA, Karolina (CZE) [6]
FABBIANO, Thomas (ITA) vs ZVEREV, Alexander (GER) [4]
HALEP, Simona (ROU) [1] vs AIAVA, Destanee (AUS)
Not before 8am
BEDENE, Aljaz (SLO) vs FEDERER, Roger (SUI) [2]
BARTY, Ashleigh (AUS) [18] vs SABALENKA, Aryna (BLR)
Margaret Court Arena
WITTHOEFT, Carina (GER) vs GARCIA, Caroline (FRA) [8]
MARIA, Tatjana (GER) vs SHARAPOVA, Maria (RUS)
Not before 4am
DJOKOVIC, Novak (SRB) [14] vs YOUNG, Donald (USA)
8am
MUGURUZA, Garbiñe (ESP) [3] vs PONCHET, Jessika (FRA)
TIAFOE, Frances (USA) vs DEL POTRO, Juan Martin (ARG) [12]
Hisense Arena – midnight
KONTA, Johanna (GBR) [9] vs BRENGLE, Madison (USA)
KERBER, Angelique (GER) [21] vs FRIEDSAM, Anna-Lena (GER)
BERANKIS, Ricardas (LTU) vs WAWRINKA, Stan (SUI) [9]
Not before 7.45am
BERDYCH, Tomas (CZE) [19] vs DE MINAUR, Alex (AUS)
Court 2 – midnight
LACKO, Lukas (SVK) vs RAONIC, Milos (CAN) [22]
BOUCHARD, Eugenie (CAN) vs DODIN, Oceane (FRA)
PETKOVIC, Andrea (GER) vs KVITOVA, Petra (CZE) [27]
THIEM, Dominic (AUT) [5] vs PELLA, Guido (ARG)
Court 3 – midnight
SAFAROVA, Lucie (CZE) [29] vs TOMLJANOVIC, Ajla (AUS)
Not before 2am
GOFFIN, David (BEL) [7] vs BACHINGER, Matthias (GER)
KOKKINAKIS, Thanasi (AUS) vs MEDVEDEV, Daniil (RUS)
MLADENOVIC, Kristina (FRA) [11] vs BOGDAN, Ana (ROU)
Court 5 – midnight
STEBE, Cedrik-Marcel (GER) vs MARTERER, Maximilian (GER)
JABEUR, Ons (TUN) vs VESNINA, Elena (RUS) [16]
DONSKOY, Evgeny (RUS) vs MAYER, Florian (GER)
VIKHLYANTSEVA, Natalia (RUS) vs TSURENKO, Lesia (UKR)
Court 7 – midnight
BAUTISTA AGUT, Roberto (ESP) [20] vs VERDASCO, Fernando (ESP)
CABRERA, Lizette (AUS) vs HADDAD MAIA, Beatriz (BRA)
ZEBALLOS, Horacio (ARG) vs FOGNINI, Fabio (ITA) [25]
GIORGI, Camila (ITA) vs KALINSKAYA, Anna (RUS)
Court 8 – midnight
KICKER, Nicolas (ARG) vs THOMPSON, Jordan (AUS)
WANG, Qiang (CHN) vs KEYS, Madison (USA) [17]
MONFILS, Gael (FRA) vs MUNAR, Jaume (ESP)
PLISKOVA, Kristyna (CZE) vs RADWANSKA, Agnieszka (POL) [26]
Court 10 – midnight
ALBOT, Radu (MDA) vs FUCSOVICS, Marton (HUN)
LUCIC-BARONI, Mirjana (CRO) [28] vs ROGERS, Shelby (USA)
OSAKA, Naomi (JPN) vs KUCOVA, Kristina (SVK)
KHACHANOV, Karen (RUS) vs POLANSKY, Peter (CAN)
Court 12 – midnight
NARA, Kurumi (JPN) vs VONDROUSOVA, Marketa (CZE)
HIBINO, Nao (JPN) vs VEKIC, Donna (CRO)
CHARDY, Jeremy (FRA) vs SANDGREN, Tennys (USA)
GARCIA-LOPEZ, Guillermo (ESP) vs PAIRE, Benoit (FRA)
Court 13 – midnight
BENNETEAU, Julien (FRA) vs DANIEL, Taro (JPN)
LEPCHENKO, Varvara (USA) vs SEVASTOVA, Anastasija (LAT) [14]
GASQUET, Richard (FRA) [29] vs KAVCIC, Blaz (SLO)
PUTINTSEVA, Yulia (KAZ) vs WATSON, Heather (GBR)
Court 14 – midnight
AHN, Kristie (USA) vs STRYCOVA, Barbora (CZE) [20]
KUKUSHKIN, Mikhail (KAZ) vs GOJOWCZYK, Peter (GER)
SMYCZEK, Tim (USA) vs POPYRIN, Alexei (AUS)
DAVIS, Lauren (USA) vs CEPELOVA, Jana (SVK)
Court 15 – midnight
BLINKOVA, Anna (RUS) vs GASPARYAN, Margarita (RUS)
QUERREY, Sam (USA) [13] vs LOPEZ, Feliciano (ESP)
JOHNSON, Steve (USA) vs KUDLA, Denis (USA)
HSIEH, Su-Wei (TPE) vs ZHU, Lin (CHN)
Court 19 – midnight
BERRETTINI, Matteo (ITA) vs MANNARINO, Adrian (FRA) [26]
CIRSTEA, Sorana (ROU) vs DIYAS, Zarina (KAZ)
HERCOG, Polona (SLO) vs ALEXANDROVA, Ekaterina (RUS)
ZVEREV, Mischa (GER) [32] vs CHUNG, Hyeon (KOR)
Court 20 – midnight
SAFRANEK, Vaclav (CZE) vs VESELY, Jiri (CZE)
MCHALE, Christina (USA) vs SASNOVICH, Aliaksandra (BLR)
DONALDSON, Jared (USA) vs RAMOS-VINOLAS, Albert (ESP) [21]
Court 22 – midnight
ARRUABARRENA, Lara (ESP) vs HOGENKAMP, Richel (NED)
SONEGO, Lorenzo (ITA) vs HAASE, Robin (NED)
KWON, Soonwoo (KOR) vs STRUFF, Jan-Lennard (GER)
