This year's Australian Open has been anything but uninteresting. Here’s a rundown of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far.
Learner Tien def. Daniil Medvedev: 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-7(8), 1-6, 7-6(10-7)
This was probably the biggest upset of the tournament, with Tien, at 19 years old, knocking out the No. 5 seed in a five-set marathon that ended at 3 am. He had some opportunities in the third set breaker to close it out in straight sets, but he was able to come through in the deciding tiebreaker. He played some lights-out tennis, looking like the future of American tennis.
Joao Fonseca def. Andrey Rublev: 7-6(1), 6-3, 76(5)
Joao Fonseca at just 18 years old completely stunned Andrey Rublev in the first round of the tournament. It was his debut in the main draw of any Grand Slam after battling it out in the qualifying rounds. The Brazilian was on a 14-match winning streak after winning the ATP Next Gen Finals, defeating Learner Tien in a grueling 4-setter. The Brazilian seems to have a bright future ahead of himself if he continues to play the way that he does.
Jakub Mensik def Casper Ruud: 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
The 19-year-old Jakub Mensik knocked out world No. 6 Casper Ruud in four sets, again showing that he is not intimidated by the biggest stages. The world No. 48 is currently the youngest man in the top 100 and is working his way further up the ranks. The Czech has been consistently going deep into tournaments, having reached the quarters at the Auckland ATP 250, and reaching the third round in 3 of the 5 Grand Slams that he has qualified for.
All three players, in my opinion, are going to be big for tennis in the next couple of years. I've been following Jakub Mensik and Joao Fonseca for the past year, looking out for their next big breaks. However, I will admit, that I have just hopped on to the Learner Tien bandwagon, and it is looking like it's hurdling into the top 20 this year. I'm super excited to see how this tournament pans out (crossing my fingers for Djokovic), and let's have an awesome 2025 season!
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