2021 AUSTRALIAN OPEN DAY 2 MEN'S NOTES - Tuesday 9 February - ITF Tennis
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2021 AUSTRALIAN OPEN
DAY 2 MEN’S NOTES
Tuesday 9 February
1st Round Bottom Half
Featured matches
No. 2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) v Laslo Djere (SRB)
No. 4 Daniil Medvedev (RUS) v Vasek Pospisil (CAN)
No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) v Gilles Simon (FRA)
No. 7 Andrey Rublev (RUS) v Yannick Hanfmann (GER)
No. 9 Matteo Berrettini (ITA) v Kevin Anderson (RSA)
No. 12 Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) v Radu Albot (MDA)
No. 13 David Goffin (BEL) v (WC) Alexei Popyrin (AUS)
No. 16 Fabio Fognini (ITA) v Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA)
No. 19 Karen Khachanov (RUS) v (WC) Aleksandar Vukic (AUS)
No. 21 Alex de Minaur (AUS) v Tennys Sandgren (USA)
No. 24 Casper Ruud (NOR) v Jordan Thompson (AUS)
(WC) Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) v Soonwoo Kwon (KOR)
On court today…
• World No. 2 Rafael Nadal opens his campaign for a record 21st Grand Slam men’s singles title when he
takes on Serbia’s Laslo Djere in the 3rd match on Rod Laver Arena today. Nadal has been troubled by a
back injury in recent days and was unable to compete for Spain in last week’s ATP Cup. But the 2009
champion will still be confident of victory over Djere – he has never lost an Australian Open match to a
player ranked as low as the world No. 56, and Djere has just 7 Tour-level match-wins on hard courts to
his name.
• No. 4 seed Daniil Medvedev and No. 7 seed Andrey Rublev both enter the Australian Open in magnificent
form, having guided Russia to victory at the ATP Cup on Sunday. Medvedev is aiming to continue a
14-match winning streak when he plays Vasek Pospisil in the 3rd match on Margaret Court Arena, while
Rublev, who won more Tour-level titles than any other player in 2020, faces Germany’s Yannick
Hanfmann in the first match of the day on John Cain Arena. Should either Medvedev or Rublev go on to
win the title here, they will become the first Russian Grand Slam men’s singles champion since Marat
Safin won the title here in 2005.
• The ATP Cup runners-up are also in action today, with Italy’s Matteo Berrettini and Fabio Fognini hoping
to bounce back from defeats against Medvedev and Rublev respectively in Sunday’s final. Berrettini faces
a tricky clash against 2-time Grand Slam finalist Kevin Anderson in the first night match on MCA, while
Fognini, who is competing in his 50th Grand Slam event, takes on France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the
3rd match on Court 5.
• Australian No. 1 Alex de Minaur begins his quest to become the first home player to win the men’s singles
title since Mark Edmondson in 1976 today, with the 21-year-old contesting the 3rd match on John Cain
Arena. De Minaur has been handed a tough 1st round draw – he is up against 2-time Australian Open
quarterfinalist Tennys Sandgren, who came close to defeating Roger Federer in the last 8 here in 2020.
Sandgren has an extremely impressive record against Top 30 players here, having won 4 of the 5
matches he has played against Top 30 opponents at Melbourne Park, and he will hope to spoil the home
fans’ party with another win this afternoon.
2021 Australian Open day 2 men’s match notesNO. 2 RAFAEL NADAL (ESP) v LASLO DJERE (SRB)
Head-to-head: first meeting
Nadal has never lost an Australian Open match to a player ranked as low as No. 56 Djere. The lowest-ranked
player to defeat Nadal here is No. 45 Fernando Verdasco in the 1st round in 2016.
NADAL v DJERE
34 Age 25
2 ATP Ranking (8 Feb) 56
86 Titles 2
282-39 Career Grand Slam Record 4-12
65-14 Australian Open Record 0-3
1004-201 Career Record 52-58
486-138 Career Record - Hard 7-28
0-0 2021 Record 0-2
0-0 2021 Record - Hard 0-2
22-12 Career Five-Set Record 0-1
3 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
246-159 Career Tiebreak Record 32-33
0-0 2021 Tiebreak Record 0-0
• 2009 Australian Open champion NADAL is bidding reach the 2nd round at the Australian Open for the 15th
time. This is his 16th appearance at the Australian Open and his 61st Grand Slam overall.
• Nadal has lost in the 1st round at a Grand Slam on just 2 occasions – to Steve Darcis at 2013 Wimbledon
and Fernando Verdasco here in 2016. His defeat to Verdasco in 2016 was the only occasion since 2005 that
Nadal has failed to reach at least the quarterfinals here when he has contested the tournament.
• Nadal is bidding to win his 21st Grand Slam title and claim sole ownership of the record for most Grand
Slam men’s singles titles, ahead of Roger Federer. He became the 5th player, man or woman, to win 20 or
more Grand Slam singles titles after winning the title at Roland Garros last year – after Margaret Court
(24 Grand Slam singles titles), Serena Williams (23), Steffi Graf (22) and Federer (20). He is one of 5 Grand
Slam champions to start in the men’s draw here.
• Nadal is bidding to become the first man in the Open Era – and only the 3rd man in history – to win each
of the 4 Grand Slam titles twice. Roy Emerson and Rod Laver are the only players to have won each Grand
Slam on 2 or more occasions. (NB While Laver completed the feat in 1969, some of the titles were won before
the start of the Open Era.) (see Preview page 2)
• At 34 years 263 days, Nadal is bidding to win his 7th Grand Slam title since turning 30 and extend his Open
Era record for most Grand Slam titles won after turning 30. Since celebrating his 30th birthday on 5 June
2016, Nadal has won 6 major titles – at Roland Garros in 2017-20 and at the US Open in 2017 and 2019.
(NB ages calculated at the end of the tournament)
• Last year here, Nadal reached the quarterfinals but fell to Dominic Thiem in 4 sets.
• Nadal’s best Australian Open performance is winning the title in 2009 (d. Federer). He also reached the
final in 2012, losing to Djokovic in the longest men’s Grand Slam final on record at 5 hours 53 minutes, 2014
(l. Stan Wawrinka), 2017 (l. Federer) and 2019 (l. Djokovic). Of his 8 defeats in Grand Slam finals, 4 have
come at the Australian Open.
• Elsewhere at Grand Slams in 2020, Nadal won his 13th title at Roland Garros, defeating Djokovic in straight
sets in the final. He did not compete at the US Open.
• Also in 2020, Nadal won the title at Acapulco (d. Taylor Fritz), reached the semifinals at Paris-1000
(l. Alexander Zverev) and the ATP Finals (l. Daniil Medvedev), and reached the quarterfinals at Rome-1000
(l. Diego Schwartzman).
2021 Australian Open day 2 men’s match notes• Nadal is contesting his first match of the 2021 season. He was a member of the Spanish squad at the ATP
Cup last week but did not compete at the event due to a back injury.
• Nadal is bidding to win his 23rd Tour-level hard court title and equal Jimmy Connors in 7th place on the
Open Era list for most Tour-level hard court titles won. He is currently level with Michael Chang and Andy
Roddick in 8th place on the list. Only Federer (71 Tour-level hard court titles), Djokovic (60), Andre Agassi
(46), Pete Sampras (36), Andy Murray (34), Ivan Lendl (26) and Connors (23) have won more Tour-level hard
court titles than Nadal in the Open Era.
• Nadal is also bidding to win his 87th Tour-level title. Only Connors (109 Tour-level titles), Federer (103) and
Lendl (95) have won more Tour-level titles in the Open Era than Nadal.
• Nadal has been ranked in the Top 10 for 803 consecutive weeks, having been ranked in the Top 10 since
April 2005. He holds the record for most consecutive weeks ranked in the Top 10, having surpassed Connors'
mark of 789 consecutive weeks in the Top 10 in November last year. He has spent a total of 209 weeks as
world No. 1 but has been ranked at No. 2 since last February.
• Nadal is a 4-time Davis Cup champion. He made his debut in the competition in 2004 and was part of the
Spanish teams which won the title in 2004, 2008, 2011 and 2019 – among active players, he holds the record
for most Davis Cup titles, alongside Feliciano Lopez. At the 2019 Davis Cup Finals in Madrid, he won all 8
matches he contested as Spain won their 6th title. As defending champions, Spain have secured a
place at the 2020 Davis Cup Finals, which have been rearranged for 2021.
• Nadal is coached by Carlos Moya, who finished runner-up here in 1997, and Francisco Roig.
• DJERE is bidding to record his first Australian Open match-win. This is his 4th appearance at the Australian
Open and his 13th Grand Slam overall.
• Djere has lost in the 1st round on his 3 previous appearances here – in 2018 (l. Ivo Karlovic), 2019
(l. Evgeny Donskoy) and last year (l. Yoshihito Nishioka).
• Djere is bidding to end a 5-match losing streak at the Grand Slams. He has not recorded a Grand Slam
match-win since 2019 Wimbledon, when he reached the 2nd round (d. Guido Andreozzi, l. John Millman). In
addition to his 1st round defeat here last year, he also fell in the 1st round at both the US Open (l. Christopher
O’Connell) and Roland Garros (l. Kevin Anderson) in 2020.
• Djere’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the 3rd round at 2019 Roland Garros when, as No. 31 seed, he
defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Alexei Popyrin before falling to Kei Nishikori. He has lost in the 1st round
on 9 of his previous 12 Grand Slam appearances.
• Djere’s best result in 2020 was winning his 2nd Tour-level singles title at Sardinia, where he defeated Marco
Cecchinato in the final. He also reached the semifinals at Cordoba (l. Diego Schwartzman) and Kitzbuhel
(l. Yannick Hanfmann).
• Prior to the Australian Open, Djere competed at the Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne, falling to Kamil
Majchrzak in the 1st round. He also competed at Antalya but retired due to eye inflammation while trailing
Dimitar Kuzmanov 61 3-2 in the 1st round.
• Djere is facing a Top 5 player for the first time. The highest-ranked player he has previously faced is
No. 6 Kevin Anderson, to whom he lost in the 2nd round at 2019 Pune. The highest-ranked players he has
defeated are No. 8 Dominic Thiem in the 1st round at 2019 Rio de Janeiro and No. 8 Juan Martin del Potro
in the 2nd round at 2019 Madrid-1000.
• Djere is bidding to end a 6-match Tour-level losing streak on hard courts. He has not recorded a Tour-
level match-win on hard courts since reaching the 2nd round at Adelaide last year (d. Popyrin, l. Lloyd Harris).
He has a 7-28 Tour-level win-loss record on hard courts – compared to 44-26 on clay and 1-4 on grass.
• Djere reached a career-high ranking of No. 27 in June 2019. He plays here at No. 56.
2021 Australian Open day 2 men’s match notes• Djere was a successful junior, reaching a career-high junior ranking of No. 3 in May 2013. He won the title
at the 2012 Orange Bowl (d. Elias Ymer) and reached the final at the 2013 Trofeo Bonfiglio (l. Alexander
Zverev). He fell in the 1st round on his only appearance in the boys’ singles in 2013 (l. Matej Maruscak).
• Djere is coached by Eduardo Infantino.
2021 Australian Open day 2 men’s match notesNO. 4 DANIIL MEDVEDEV (RUS) v VASEK POSPISIL (CAN)
Head-to-head: Medvedev leads 2-1
2019 Shanghai-1000 Hard (O) R16 Medvedev 76(7) 75
2020 Rotterdam Hard (I) R32 Pospisil 64 63
2020 Vienna Hard(I) R16 Medvedev 46 63 62
A 4th meeting for the pair, but their first at a Grand Slam. They split their 2 meetings in 2020, with Pospisil
victorious at Rotterdam in February and Medvedev winning at Vienna in October.
Medvedev has lost an Australian Open match to a player ranked as low as No. 63 Pospisil on one occasion
– on his Grand Slam debut in 2017, when he fell to No. 131 Ernesto Escobedo in the 1st round. He has lost
Grand Slam matches to players ranked as low as Pospisil on 5 occasions, most recently at Roland Garros
last year when he fell to No. 63 Marton Fucsovics in the 1st round.
MEDVEDEV v POSPISIL
24* Age 30
4 ATP Ranking (8 Feb) 63
9 Titles 0
25-15 Career Grand Slam Record 16-28
7-4 Australian Open Record 4-4
162-84 Career Record 121-152
134-54 Career Record - Hard 104-107
4-0 2021 Record 0-0
4-0 2021 Record - Hard 0-0
0-6 Career Five-Set Record 7-6
0 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 1
53-36 Career Tiebreak Record 74-85
0-0 2021 Tiebreak Record 0-0
*Celebrates 25th birthday on Thursday 11 February
• MEDVEDEV is bidding to reach the 2nd round here for the 4th consecutive year. This is his 5th Australian
Open appearance and his 16th Grand Slam overall.
• Medvedev has lost in the 1st round here on one previous occasion – on his Grand Slam debut in 2017,
when he fell to Ernesto Escobedo in 4 sets. He has lost in the 1st round at a Grand Slam on 5 other occasions
– at Roland Garros in 2017 (l. Benjamin Bonzi), 2018 (l. Lucas Pouille), 2019 (l. Pierre-Hugues Herbert) and
2020 (l. Marton Fucsovics) and at the 2017 US Open (l. Denis Shapovalov).
• Medvedev’s best Australian Open performance is reaching the round of 16 on 2 occasions – in 2019
(l. Novak Djokovic) and last year, when he fell to Stan Wawrinka in the only 5-set match he has contested
here. He has lost all 6 five-set matches he has contested at Tour-level overall.
• Medvedev’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the final at the 2019 US Open, where he fell to
Rafael Nadal in 5 sets. He became the first Russian man to contest a Grand Slam final since Marat Safin at
the 2005 Australian Open.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2020, Medvedev reached the semifinals at the US Open, falling to eventual
champion Dominic Thiem in straight sets.
• Medvedev is bidding to become the 3rd Grand Slam men’s singles champion from Russia. The 2 Russian
men to have won Grand Slam titles have both won the Australian Open – Yevgeny Kafelnikov (who won the
titles at 1996 Roland Garros and 1999 Australian Open) and Safin (2000 US Open and 2005 Australian Open).
• Medvedev won back-to-back titles to finish the 2020 season – at Paris-1000 (d. Alexander Zverev) and
the ATP Finals (d. Dominic Thiem). At the ATP Finals he defeated No. 1 Novak Djokovic, in the group stages
before defeating No. 2 Nadal in the semifinals and No. 3 Thiem in the final to become the first player in the
event’s history to defeat the Top 3.
• Medvedev’s other 2020 highlights were reaching the quarterfinals at Marseille (l. Gilles Simon),
Cincinnati-1000 (l. Roberto Bautista Agut) and Vienna (l. Kevin Anderson).
2021 Australian Open day 2 men’s match notes• Prior to the Australian Open Medvedev helped Russia to victory at the ATP Cup, with the team defeating
Italy in the final to win the 2nd edition of the competition. He won all 4 matches he contested at the event,
defeating Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman, Japan’s Kei Nishikori, Germany’s Zverev and Italy’s Matteo
Berrettini.
• Medvedev is bidding to extend a 14-match Tour-level winning streak. He won 5 matches at Paris-1000 and
another 5 matches the ATP Finals last year, before winning all 4 matches at the ATP Cup last week. It is the
longest Tour-level winning streak of his career, surpassing the 12 consecutive matches he won in winning the
title at Cincinnati-1000 through to finishing runner-up at the US Open in 2019.
• Medvedev reached a career-high ranking of No. 4 after his runner-up finish at the 2019 US Open. He plays
here at the same ranking.
• Medvedev reached a career-high junior ranking of No. 13 in January 2014. His best performance in the
boys’ singles here was reaching the 2nd round in 2013 (d. Hong Seong Chan, l. Nikola Milojevic).
• Medvedev made his Davis Cup debut in February 2017 and has a 4-3 win-loss record in the competition. He
was nominated for the Russian team for the 2019 Davis Cup Finals, but withdrew from the team due to fatigue
prior to the competition. As semifinalists in 2019, Russia have secured a place at the 2020 Davis Cup Finals,
which have been rearranged for 2021.
• Medvedev is coached by Gilles Cervara.
• POSPISIL is bidding to reach the 2nd round here for the 3rd time – and for the first time since 2015. This is
his 6th Australian Open appearance and 30th Grand Slam overall.
• Pospisil has lost in the 1st round on his 3 most-recent main draw appearances here – including last year,
when he fell to Ivo Karlovic. He also fell in the 1st round in 2016 (l. Gilles Simon) and as a qualifier in 2018
(l. Marin Cilic). He fell in qualifying in 2017 and missed the event due to a back injury in 2019.
• Pospisil’s best Australian Open result is reaching the 3rd round on 2 occasions – on his debut here in 2014,
when he defeated Sam Groth and Matthew Ebden before giving a walkover to Stan Wawrinka due to a back
injury, and in 2015 (l. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez).
• Pospisil’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the quarterfinals at 2015 Wimbledon, where he lost to Andy
Murray in straight sets.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2020, Pospisil reached the round of 16 at the US Open, where he defeated
Philipp Kohlschreiber, Milos Raonic and Roberto Bautista Augt before falling to Alex de Minaur, but fell in the
1st round at Roland Garros (l. Matteo Berrettini).
• Pospisil’s best 2020 Tour-level results were reaching the finals at both Montpellier (l. Gael Monfils) and
Sofia (l. Jannik Sinner). Prior to 2020, he had reached just one Tour-level final, at 2014 Washington (l. Raonic).
He also reached the quarterfinals at Marseille (l. Stefanos Tsitsipas).
• Pospisil is contesting his first match of the season. He withdrew from the Great Ocean Road Open in
Melbourne last week due to a lower back injury.
• Pospisil is bidding to defeat a Top 5 player at a Grand Slam for the first time on his 3rd attempt. He has
lost both of his previous matches against Top 5 opposition at the Grand Slams, falling to No. 3 Murray in the
quarterfinals at 2015 Wimbledon and to No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the 2nd round at the 2018 US Open. The
highest-ranked player he has defeated at a Grand Slam is No. 9 Karen Khachanov in the 1st round at the
2019 US Open.
• Pospisil has won one of his last 6 matches against Top 5 players at Tour-level. His victory over No. 5
Medvedev in the 1st round at Rotterdam last year ended a 5-match losing streak against Top 5 opposition at
Tour-level. He has a 3-17 win-loss record against Top 5 players at Tour-level overall.
• Pospisil has won 6 of the last 7 five-set matches he has contested, with his only defeat in a 5-set match in
that time coming against Andreas Haider-Maurer in the 1st round at the 2015 US Open. He won the only
2021 Australian Open day 2 men’s match notes5-set match he has contested at the Australian Open – defeating Sam Querrey in the 1st round in 2015 – and
has a 7-6 win-loss record overall.
• Pospisil reached a career-high ranking of No. 25 in January 2014. He plays here at No. 63.
• Pospisil was named ATP Comeback Player of the Year for 2020, after missing 6 months of the previous
season due to back surgery. He began last year ranked at No. 150 and rose 89 places to finish the year at
No. 61.
• Pospisil is a Grand Slam doubles champion. He partnered Jack Sock to the men’s doubles title at 2014
Wimbledon, defeating Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan in 5 sets in the final. His best result in the men’s doubles here
is reaching the quarterfinals with Sock in 2016 (l. Pablo Cuevas/Marcel Granollers).
• Pospisil finished runner-up in the boys’ doubles event here in 2008 with Cesar Ramirez (l. Cheng-Peng
Hsieh/Tsung-Hua Yang).
• Pospisil has played Davis Cup for Canada since 2008 and has a 22-19 overall win-loss record in the
competition. He won 3 of the 4 singles matches he contested as Canada reached the final for the first time in
2020. As runners-up in 2019, Canada secured a place at the 2020 Davis Cup Finals, which have been
rearranged for 2021.
• Pospisil is coached by Frank Dancevic and Anton Rabie.
2021 Australian Open day 2 men’s match notesNO. 5 STEFANOS TSITSIPAS (GRE) v GILLES SIMON (FRA)
Head-to-head: first meeting
Tsitsipas has lost Grand Slam matches to players ranked as low as No. 66 Simon on 2 occasions – falling to
No. 79 Dusan Lajovic in the 1st round at 2017 Wimbledon and to No. 89 Thomas Fabbiano in the 1st round
at 2019 Wimbledon. The lowest-ranked player to have defeated Tsitsipas at the Australian Open is No. 50
Denis Shapovalov in the 1st round in 2018.
TSITSIPAS v SIMON
22 Age 36
6 ATP Ranking (8 Feb) 66
5 Titles 14
21-13 Career Grand Slam Record 88-57
6-3 Australian Open Record 25-14
134-76 Career Record 493-370
85-53 Career Record - Hard 294-214
2-0 2021 Record 1-1
2-0 2021 Record - Hard 1-1
2-4 Career Five-Set Record 19-14
1 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 2
65-49 Career Tiebreak Record 170-177
0-0 2021 Tiebreak Record 0-0
• TSITSIPAS is bidding to reach the 2nd round here for the 3rd straight year. This is his 4th Australian Open
and his 14th Grand Slam overall.
• Tsitsipas has lost in the 1st round here once before – on his Australian Open debut in 2018, when he fell
to Denis Shapovalov in straight sets.
• Last year here, Tsitsipas reached the 3rd round after defeating Salvatore Caruso in the 1st round before
Philipp Kohlschreiber gave a walkover in their 2nd round match due to an abdominal injury. He fell to Milos
Raonic in straight sets in the 3rd round.
• Tsitsipas’ best Grand Slam result is reaching the semifinals on 2 occasions – including at the Australian
Open in 2019, when he defeated Roger Federer in the round of 16 and Roberto Bautista Agut in the
quarterfinals before falling to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. He became the first Greek man to reach a Grand
Slam semifinal and, at 20 years 168 days, the youngest man to reach the semifinals at a Grand Slam since
Novak Djokovic (20 years 110 days) at the 2007 US Open. He also reached the semifinals at Roland Garros
last year, falling to Djokovic in 5 sets.
• At 22 years 193 days, Tsitsipas is bidding to become the youngest Australian Open men’s singles
champion since Djokovic won the title here in 2008 aged 20 years 250 days. Tsitsipas would also become
the youngest Grand Slam champion since Juan Martin del Potro won the title at the 2009 US Open aged 20
years 355 days. (NB ages calculated at the end of the tournament)
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2020, Tsitsipas reached the 3rd round at the US Open, where he fell to
Borna Coric in 5 sets. He has a 2-4 win-loss record in 5-set matches but has never contested a 5-set match
at the Australian Open.
• Tsitsipas’ best result in 2020 was winning the title at Marseile (d. Felix Auger-Aliassime). He also finished
runner-up at Dubai (l. Djokovic) and Hamburg (l. Andrey Rublev), and the semifinals at Cincinnati-1000
(l. Raonic) and Roland Garros.
• Prior to the Australian Open Tsitsipas represented Greece at the ATP Cup. He won both singles matches
he contested, defeating both Australia’s Alex de Minaur and Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets.
• Tsitsipas reached a career-high ranking of No. 5 in August 2019. He plays here one place lower at No. 6.
2021 Australian Open day 2 men’s match notes• Tsitsipas is a former junior world No. 1. He reached the quarterfinals of the boys’ singles here in 2015
(l. Jurabek Karimov) and 2016 (l. De Minaur). His best result at a junior Grand Slam was reaching the
semifinals of the boys’ singles at 2016 Wimbledon (l. Shapovalov) and at the 2016 US Open (l. Felix Auger-
Aliassime).
• Tsitsipas made his Davis Cup debut in September 2019 and has won all 6 singles matches he has contested
in the competition since then. Greece will play at home to Lithuania in a World Group II tie in September.
• Tsitsipas is coached by his father, Apostolos Tsitsipas.
• SIMON is bidding to reach the 2nd round here for the 11th straight year and 14th time overall. This is his 15th
Australian Open appearance and his 59th Grand Slam overall.
• Simon is bidding to record his 26th Australian Open match-win and claim sole ownership of 3rd place on the
list for most Australian Open match-wins by a Frenchman in the Open Era, ahead of Sebastien Grosjean.
Most Australian Open match-wins by a Frenchman (Open Era)
Player Australian Open match-wins
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 37
Gael Monfils 29
Sebastien Grosjean 25
Gilles Simon 25
Richard Gasquet 24
• Last year here, Simon reached the 2nd round (d. Pablo Cuevas, l. Nick Kyrgios). He has not progressed
beyond the 2nd round here since 2017, when he reached the 3rd round (l. Milos Raonic).
• Simon’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the quarterfinals here as No. 6 seed in 2009 (l. Rafael
Nadal) and as No. 12 seed at 2015 Wimbledon (l. Roger Federer).
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2020, Simon reached the 2nd round at the US Open (d. Mohamed Safwat,
l. Taylor Fritz) but fell in the 1st round at Roland Garros (l. Denis Shapovalov).
• Simon’s best results in 2020 were reaching the semifinals at Marseille (l. Felix Auger-Aliassime) and the
quarterfinals at Cologne (l. Jannik Sinner).
• Prior to the Australian Open Simon competed at the Murray River Open in Melbourne, where he reached
the 2nd round (d. Elias Ymer, l. Jeremy Chardy).
• Simon is bidding to end a 5-match losing streak against Top 10 players at the Grand Slams. He has not
defeated a Top 10 player at a Grand Slam since defeating No. 6 Tomas Berdych in the round of 16 at 2015
Wimbledon. He has a 3-19 win-loss record against Top 10 opposition at the Grand Slams and a 34-91
win-loss record against Top 10 opposition at Tour-level overall.
• The Australian Open is Simon’s most-successful Grand Slam event in terms of matches won. He has a
25-14 win-loss record here – compared to 22-14 at Wimbledon, 21-15 at Roland Garros and 20-14 at the
US Open.
• Simon has lost 4 of the last 5 five-set matches he has contested. His only victory in a 5-set match in that
time came against Guido Pella in the 2nd round at 2016 Roland Garros, when he successfully recovered from
0-2 down for the 2nd time in his career. He has a 7-4 win-loss record in 5-set matches at the Australian Open
and an 18-15 win-loss record in 5-set matches at Tour-level overall.
• Simon is a former Top 10 player. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 6 in January 2009. He plays here
at No. 66.
• Simon is coached by Etienne Laforgue.
2021 Australian Open day 2 men’s match notesNO. 7 ANDREY RUBLEV (RUS) v YANNICK HANFMANN (GER)
Head-to-head: first meeting
Rublev has never lost a Grand Slam match to a player ranked as low as No. 102 Hanfmann. The lowest-
ranked player to defeat Rublev at a Grand Slam is No. 81 Mackenzie McDonald in the 1st round here in 2019.
RUBLEV v HANFMANN
23 Age 29
8 ATP Ranking (8 Feb) 102
7 Titles 0
23-13 Career Grand Slam Record 0-2
6-4 Australian Open Record 0-0
130-85 Career Record 15-17
101-64 Career Record - Hard 0-3
4-0 2021 Record 0-1
4-0 2021 Record - Hard 0-1
3-3 Career Five-Set Record 0-0
1 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
42-52 Career Tiebreak Record 7-11
0-0 2021 Tiebreak Record 0-1
• RUBLEV is bidding to reach the 2nd round here for the 4th time. This is his 5th Australian Open and his 14th
Grand Slam overall.
• Rublev has lost in the 1st round at a Grand Slam on 4 occasions – including here in 2019, when he fell to
Mackenzie McDonald in 4 sets in the 1st round. He also fell in the 1st round at the US Open as a qualifier on
his Grand Slam debut in 2015 (l. Kevin Anderson) and as a direct acceptance in 2018 (l. Jeremy Chardy),
and as a lucky loser at 2017 Roland Garros (l. Diego Schwartzman).
• Last year here, Rublev recorded his best Australian Open performance by reaching the round of 16. He
defeated Christopher O’Connell, Yuichi Sugita and David Goffin before falling to Alexander Zverev in straight
sets.
• Rublev’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the quarterfinals on 3 occasions – including at the 2020
US Open (l. Daniil Medvedev) and 2020 Roland Garros (l. Stefanos Tsitsipas). He also reached the
quarterfinals at the 2017 US Open (l. Rafael Nadal), where he became the youngest player to reach the last
8 at the US Open since Andy Roddick in 2001.
• Rublev is bidding to become the 3rd Grand Slam men’s singles champion from Russia. The 2 Russian
men to have won Grand Slam titles have both won the Australian Open – Yevgeny Kafelnikov (who won the
titles at 1996 Roland Garros and 1999 Australian Open) and Safin (2000 US Open and 2005 Australian Open).
• At 23 years 124 days, Rublev is looking to become the youngest Australian Open men’s singles champion
since Nadal won the title here in 2009 aged 22 years 243 days. Rublev would also become the youngest
Grand Slam champion since Juan Martin del Potro won the title at the 2009 US Open aged 20 years 355
days. (NB ages calculated at the end of the tournament)
• Rublev won 5 Tour-level titles in 2020, more than any other player on Tour. He won the titles at both Doha
(d. Corentin Moutet) and Adelaide (d. Lloyd Harris), becoming the first man to win 2 titles in the opening 2
weeks of the season since Dominik Hrbaty, who won the titles at Adelaide and Auckland in the opening 2
weeks of 2004. He also won the titles at Hamburg (d. Tistsipas), St Petersburg (d. Borna Coric) and Vienna
(d. Lorenzo Sonego).
• As well as winning more titles than any other player in 2020, Rublev finished the season joint-top of the list
for most Tour-level match-wins in 2020, level with Novak Djokovic. He had a 41-10 win-loss record during
the 2020 season and qualified for the ATP Finals for the first time, finishing in 4th place in his group with a
1-2 win-loss record.
2021 Australian Open day 2 men’s match notes• Prior to the Australian Open Rublev helped Russia to victory at the ATP Cup, with the team defeating Italy
in the final to win the 2nd edition of the competition. He won all 4 singles matches he contested, defeating
Argentina’s Guido Pella, Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff and Italy’s Fabio Fognini.
• Rublev broke the Top 10 for the first time in October last year, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 8. He
plays here at the same ranking.
• Rublev is a former junior world No. 1 having topped the boys’ rankings for the first time in June 2014 after
winning the boys’ singles title at 2014 Roland Garros. He reached the quarterfinals at the 2014 Junior
Australian Open (l. Stefan Kozlov) and finished runner-up in the boys’ doubles with Kozlov at 2014
Wimbledon. He also won two medals at the Youth Olympic Tennis Event in Nanjing later that year, winning
boys’ singles bronze and boys’ doubles silver with Karen Khachanov. He was named 2014 ITF Junior World
Champion.
• Rublev has played Davis Cup for Russia since 2014 and has a 14-9 win-loss record in the competition. He
won all 4 singles matches he contested at the 2019 Davis Cup Finals in Madrid as Russia reached the
semifinals before falling to Canada. As semifinalists in 2019, Russia have secured a place at the 2020 Davis
Cup Finals, which have been rearranged for 2021.
• Rublev is coached by Fernando Vicente.
• HANFMANN is bidding to record his first Grand Slam match-win on his Australian Open debut.
• Last year here, Hanfmann reached the 2nd round of qualifying (d. Carlos Taberner, l. Prajnesh
Gunneswaran). It was the only Grand Slam event where he competed in 2020 – he was ranked too low to
compete at the 2020 US Open and chose to compete as a wild card at Hamburg instead of competing in
qualifying at Roland Garros.
• Hanfmann is making his 3rd Grand Slam main draw appearance. He lost in the 1st round on his 2 previous
Grand Slam appearances – as a direct acceptance at the 2018 US Open (l. Phillipp Kohlschreiber) and as a
qualifier at 2019 Roland Garros (l. Rafael Nadal).
• Hanfmann’s best result in 2020 was reaching the final as a qualifier at Kitzbuhel (l. Miomir Kecmanovic). He
also reached the quarterfinals at Sardinia (l. Lorenzo Musetti).
• Also in 2020, Hanfmann won his 6th title at Challenger-level, defeating Bernabe Zapata Miralles in the final
at the Todi Challenger (ITA). He also finished runner-up at the Burnie Challenger (AUS) (l. Taro Daniel).
• Prior to the Australian Open Hanfmann competed at the Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne but fell to
Mario Vilella Martinez in straight sets in the 1st round.
• Hanfmann is bidding to defeat a Top 10 opponent for the 2nd time on his 4th attempt. He has a 1-2
win-loss record against Top 10 opposition, having recorded his first victory against a Top 10 player by
defeating No. 9 Gael Monfils in the 1st round at Hamburg last year.
• Hanfmann is bidding to record his first Tour-level hard court match-win. He has lost his opening match at
all 3 Tour-level events he has contested on hard courts – falling to Ryan Harrison at 2018 Brisbane, to
Kohlschreiber at the 2018 US Open and to Vilella Martinez at the Great Ocean Road Open last week. Of his
15 Tour-level match-wins, 14 have come on clay courts and one on grass.
• Hanfmann reached a career-high ranking of No. 95 in October last year. He plays here 6 places lower at
No. 102.
• Hanfmann played college tennis. He played at University of Southern California for 4 years from 2012-15,
helping the team to 2 NCAA national titles.
• Hanfmann is coached by Lukas Wolff and Lars Uebel.
2021 Australian Open day 2 men’s match notesNO. 9 MATTEO BERRETTINI (ITA) v KEVIN ANDERSON (RSA)
Head-to-head: first meeting
Berrettini has lost Grand Slam matches to players ranked as low as No. 81 Anderson on 2 occasions – falling
to No. 100 Tennys Sandgren in the 2nd round here last year and to No. 186 Daniel Altmaier in the 3rd round
at Roland Garros last year.
BERRETTINI v ANDERSON
24 Age 34
10 ATP Ranking (8 Feb) 81
3 Titles 6
18-11 Career Grand Slam Record 74-43
1-3 Australian Open Record 13-12
76-53 Career Record 341-235
35-34 Career Record - Hard 245-157
5-2 2021 Record 2-1
5-2 2021 Record - Hard 2-1
3-1 Career Five-Set Record 16-11
1 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 3
37-35 Career Tiebreak Record 201-167
0-1 2021 Tiebreak Record 0-1
• BERRETTINI is bidding to reach the 2nd round here for the 2nd time and equal his best Australian Open
result. This is his 4th Australian Open and his 12th Grand Slam appearance overall.
• Last year here, Berrettini recorded his first Australian Open match-win by defeating wild card Andrew Harris
in the 1st round, before falling to Tennys Sandgren in 5 sets in the 2nd round. He has fallen in the 1st round
in his 2 other appearances here – on his Grand Slam debut as a lucky loser in 2018 (l. Adrian Mannarino)
and in 2019 (l. Stefanos Tsitsipas).
• Berrettini recorded his best Grand Slam result at the 2019 US Open, where he became the 4th Italian man
in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam semifinal – after Adriano Panatta (1973, 1975 Roland Garros), Corrado
Barazzutti (1977 US Open, 1978 Roland Garros) and Marco Cecchinato (2018 Roland Garros). He fell to
eventual champion Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the last 4.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2020, Berrettini reached the round of 16 at the US Open (l. Andrey Rublev)
and the 3rd round at Roland Garros (l. Daniel Altmaier).
• Berrettini’s best result in 2020 was reaching the quarterfinals at Rome-1000 (l. Casper Ruud). He contested
a total of 6 events in 2020 after struggling with a groin injury early in the season.
• Prior to the Australian Open Berrettini represented Italy at the ATP Cup in Melbourne, winning 3 of the 4
singles matches he contested as Italy finished runners-up to Russia. He defeated Austria’s Dominic Thiem,
France’s Gael Monfils and Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut, but fell to Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the final. He
also competed at Antalya last month, reaching the quarterfinals (l. Alexander Bublik).
• Berrettini’s defeat to Sandgren in the 2nd round here last year was his first defeat in a 5-set match. He had
won the 3 five-set matches that he had contested prior to that defeat.
• Berrettini has won 3 Tour-level singles titles – on clay at 2018 Gstaad (d. Roberto Bautista Agut) and 2019
Budapest (d. Filip Krajinovic), and on grass at 2019 Stuttgart (d. Felix Auger-Aliassime).
• Berrettini reached a career-high ranking of No. 8 in November 2019 becoming the highest-ranked Italian
man since No. 8 Barazzutti in 1978. He plays here 2 places lower at No. 10.
• Berrettini made his Davis Cup debut in 2019 during Italy’s victory against India in the 2019 Qualifiers. He also
competed at the 2020 Davis Cup Finals in Madrid, losing both singles matches he contested, falling to Denis
Shapovalov and Taylor Fritz. Italy have secured a place at the next Davis Cup Finals, which have been
rearranged for 2021.
2021 Australian Open day 2 men’s match notes• Berrettini is coached by Vincenzo Santopadre, Marco Gulisano and Umberto Rianna.
• ANDERSON is bidding to reach the 2nd round here for the 7th time. This is his 13th Australian Open
appearance and his 44th Grand Slam overall.
• Last year here, Anderson reached the 2nd round, defeating Ilya Ivashka in 5 sets before falling to Taylor
Fritz, also in 5 sets. He has a 4-3 win-loss record in 5-set matches at the Australian Open and a 16-11
win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Anderson has lost in the 1st round here on 6 occasions – in 2008 (l. Alejandro Falla), 2009 (l. Marin Cilic),
2010 (l. Andy Murray), 2011 (l. Blaz Kavcic), 2016 (l. Rajeev Ram) and 2018 (l. Kyle Edmund).
• Anderson’s best Australian Open result is reaching the round of 16 here on 3 occasions – falling to Tomas
Berdych in both 2013 and 2014, and to Rafael Nadal in 2015.
• Anderson is a 2-time Grand Slam finalist. He finished runner-up at the 2017 US Open (l. Nadal), where he
became the first South African to reach a Grand Slam singles final since Kevin Curren at the 1984 Australian
Open and the oldest first-time finalist at a major since Niki Pilic at 1973 Roland Garros. He also reached the
final at 2018 Wimbledon (l. Novak Djokovic), having defeated John Isner in the semifinals in the 2nd-longest
singles match in history, winning 76(6) 67(5) 67(9) 64 26-24 in 6 hours 36 minutes.
• Elsewhere in Grand Slam play in 2020, Anderson reached the 3rd round at Roland Garros, where he
defeated Dusan Lajovic and Laslo Djere before falling to Andrey Rublev, but lost to Alexander Zverev in the
1st round at the US Open.
• Anderson’s best result in 2020 was reaching the semifinals at Vienna, where he retired due to a right leg
injury while trailing Rublev 64 4-1.
• Prior to the Australian Open Anderson reached the 3rd round at the Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne.
He defeated Feliciano Lopez and Cedrik-Marcel Stebe before falling to Karen Khachanov.
• Anderson has won one of his last 8 matches against Top 10 opposition. His only victory against a Top
10 player in that time came against No. 6 Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals at Vienna last year. He has an
18-69 win-loss record against Top 10 opposition at Tour-level overall.
• Anderson is bidding to defeat a Top 10 player at the Australian Open for the first time on his 6th attempt.
He has lost all 5 of his previous meetings with Top 10 opposition here in straight sets. The highest-ranked
player he has defeated at the Australian Open is No. 24 Fernando Verdasco in the 3rd round in 2013. He has
a 3-20 win-loss record against Top 10 opposition at the Grand Slams overall.
• Anderson reached a career-high ranking of No. 5 after reaching the final at 2018 Wimbledon. He has
struggled with injuries over the last 2 seasons, undergoing right knee surgeries in September 2019 and
February 2020. He fell to No. 147 in January last year – his lowest ranking since he was No. 148 in January
2010. He re-entered the Top 100 in November and plays here at No. 81.
• Anderson received travel grants from the Grand Slam Development Fund to play junior events in 2004.
• Anderson is coached by Diego Moyano and Jay Bosworth.
2021 Australian Open day 2 men’s match notesNO. 12 ROBERTO BAUTISTA AGUT (ESP) v RADU ALBOT (MDA)
Head-to-head: first meeting
Bautista Agut has lost an Australian Open match to a player ranked as low as No. 85 Albot on one occasion
– on his debut here in 2012, when he fell to No. 108 Ricardo Mello in the 1st round. He has lost Grand Slam
matches to players ranked as low as Albot on 2 other occasions – falling to No. 98 Jason Kubler in the 1st
round at the 2018 US Open and to No. 94 Vasek Pospisil in the 3rd round at the US Open last year.
BAUTISTA AGUT v ALBOT
32 Age 31
13 ATP Ranking (8 Feb) 85
9 Titles 1
61-31 Career Grand Slam Record 10-19
17-9 Australian Open Record 1-3
308-182 Career Record 93-107
201-117 Career Record - Hard 57-69
1-2 2021 Record 0-2
1-2 2021 Record - Hard 0-2
11-8 Career Five-Set Record 7-4
1 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 4
101-94 Career Tiebreak Record 39-39
0-0 2021 Tiebreak Record 0-1
• BAUTISTA AGUT is bidding to reach the 2nd round here for the 8th time. This is his 10th Australian Open
and his 32nd Grand Slam overall.
• Last year here, Bautista Agut reached the 3rd round, defeating Feliciano Lopez and Michael Mmoh before
falling to Marin Cilic in 5 sets. Of the 19 five-set matches that he has contested, 10 have come at the Australian
Open. He has a 7-3 win-loss record in 5-set matches here and an 11-8 win-loss record in 5-set matches
overall.
• Bautista Agut has lost in the 1st round at a Grand Slam on 4 occasions, including twice at the Australian
Open – on his Grand Slam debut as a qualifier in 2012 (l. Ricardo Mello) and as No. 20 seed in 2018
(l. Fernando Verdasco). He has also lost in the 1st round at the US Open in 2018 (l. Jason Kubler) and 2019
(l. Mikhail Kukushkin).
• Bautista Agut recorded his best Australian Open performance in 2019, when he reached the quarterfinals
at a Grand Slam for the first time on his 25th attempt. He had previously lost on all 9 of his appearances in the
round of 16 at the majors. He recorded 3 five-set victories – against Andy Murray, John Millman and Cilic –
before falling to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last 8.
• Bautista Agut’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2019 (l. Novak
Djokovic). He became the 6th Spanish man in history to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2020, Bautista Agut also reached the 3rd round at both the US Open
(l. Vasek Pospisil) and Roland Garros (l. Pablo Carreno Busta).
• Bautista Agut’s best results in 2020 were reaching the semifinals at both Cincinnati-1000 (l. Djokovic) and
Cologne (l. Felix Auger-Aliassime) and the quarterfinals at Hamburg (l. Andrey Rublev).
• Prior to the Australian Open Bautista Agut represented Spain at the ATP Cup. He won one of the 3 matches
he contested as Spain reached the semifinals, defeating Australia’s Alex de Minaur, but falling to Greece’s
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Italy’s Matteo Berrettini.
• Bautista Agut has 9 Tour-level singles titles, including 7 on hard courts. His most recent Tour-level title
came at 2019 Doha (d. Tomas Berdych).
• Bautista Agut broke the Top 10 for the first time in August 2019 and reached a career-high ranking of
No. 9 in November 2019. He plays here 4 places lower at No. 13.
2021 Australian Open day 2 men’s match notes• Bautista Agut has played Davis Cup for Spain since 2014 and has an 8-6 win-loss record in the competition.
He won 2 of the 3 matches he contested in the 2019 Finals – including defeating Canada’s Auger-Aliassime in
the first match of the final – as Spain won the Davis Cup titles for the 6th time. As defending champions, Spain
secured a place at the 2020 Davis Cup Finals, which have been rearranged for 2021.
• Bautista Agut is coached by Pepe Vendrell.
• ALBOT is bidding to reach the 2nd round here for the 2nd time and equal his best Australian Open
performance. This is his 4th Australian Open appearance and his 20th Grand Slam overall.
• Albot missed the Australian Open last year due to a right shoulder injury. Elsewhere at the Grand Slams
in 2020, he reached the 2nd round at Roland Garros (d. Jordan Thompson, l. Taylor Fritz), but fell to Norbert
Gombos in the 1st round at the US Open.
• Albot’s best Australian Open performance is reaching the 2nd round in 2019, when he defeated Michael
Mmoh for his first Australian Open match-win before falling to Fernando Verdasco in straight sets. He lost in
the 1st round on his 2 other main draw appearances here – in 2017 (l. Carlos Berlocq) and 2018 (l. Marton
Fucsovics).
• Albot’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the 3rd round on 2 occasions – as a qualifier at 2017 US
Open, where he defeated Ernesto Escobedo and Yen-Hsun Lu before falling to Sam Querrey, and as a direct
acceptance at 2018 Wimbledon, where he defeated Pablo Carreno Busta and Aljaz Bedene before falling to
John Isner.
• Albot’s best results in 2020 were reaching the quarterfinals at Cologne (l. Felix Auger-Aliassime) and Sofia
(l. Adrian Mannarino). He lost all 6 Tour-level matches he contested prior to the Tour’s hiatus in March, but
had a 7-7 Tour-level win-loss record from the Tour’s resumption in August until the end of the season.
• Prior to the Australian Open Albot competed at the Murray River Open in Melbourne, falling to Federico
Coria in the 1st round. He also competed at Antalya last month, where he fell to Jeremy Chardy in the 1st
round.
• Albot is the only player – man or woman – from Moldova to have contested a Grand Slam.
• Albot is bidding to defeat a Top 20 player at a Grand Slam for the 2nd time on his 6th attempt. He has a
1-4 win-loss record against Top 20 opposition at the Grand Slams, with his only victory against a Top 20
player at a major coming against No. 12 Pablo Carreno Busta in 5 sets in the 1st round at 2018 Wimbledon.
• Albot has won one of his last 7 matches against Top 20 players at Tour-level. His victory against No. 12
Denis Shapovalov in the 2nd round at Sofia last year ended a 6-match losing streak against Top 20 opposition
at Tour-level. He has a 5-20 win-loss record against Top 20 opposition at Tour-level overall.
• Albot reached a career-high ranking of No. 39 in August 2019. He plays here at No. 85.
• Albot was a member of the ITF 16 & under Team to Europe in 2005, supported by the Grand Slam
Development Fund.
• Albot has played Davis Cup for Moldova since 2007 and is the nation’s most successful player in terms of
singles wins and overall wins. He has a 28-8 win-loss record in Davis Cup singles and a 41-17 win-loss in
Davis Cup overall.
• Albot is coached by Magnus Tideman.
2021 Australian Open day 2 men’s match notesNO. 13 DAVID GOFFIN (BEL) v (WC) ALEXEI POPYRIN (AUS)
Head-to-head: first meeting
Goffin is facing an Australian player here for the first time. He has a 7-9 win-loss record against Australian
players at Tour-level and has lost his last 3 meetings with Australian opposition. His last victory against an
Australian player came against Matthew Ebden in the 2nd round at 2017 Tokyo.
Goffin has an 8-3 win-loss record against players at their home Grand Slams. He has a 5-1 win-loss record
against Frenchmen at Roland Garros, a 2-1 win-loss record against Brits at Wimbledon and a 1-1 win-loss
record against Americans at the US Open.
Goffin has lost a Grand Slam match to a player ranked as low as No. 113 Popyrin on one occasion – falling
to No. 122 Jared Donaldson in the 1st round at the 2016 US Open. The lowest-ranked player to defeat Goffin
at the Australian Open is No. 78 Marcos Baghdatis in the 2nd round in 2015.
Goffin is bidding to maintain his perfect record against wild cards at the Grand Slams, having won all 5 of his
previous meetings with wild cards at the majors. He has a 23-8 win-loss record against wild cards at
Tour-level overall.
GOFFIN v POPYRIN
30 Age 21
15 ATP Ranking (8 Feb) 113
4 Titles 0
57-32 Career Grand Slam Record 8-7
13-7 Australian Open Record 4-3
281-184 Career Record 17-29
186-119 Career Record - Hard 15-23
3-2 2021 Record 2-1
3-2 2021 Record - Hard 2-1
13-4 Career Five-Set Record 0-1
2 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0
90-89 Career Tiebreak Record 20-15
0-0 2021 Tiebreak Record 3-1
• GOFFIN is bidding to reach the 2nd round here for the 7th straight year. This is his 8th Australian Open and
his 33rd Grand Slam overall.
• Goffin has lost in the first round at the Australian Open once before – on his debut here in 2013, when
he fell to Fernando Verdasco in 5 sets.
• Last year here, Goffin reached the 3rd round, defeating Jeremy Chardy and Pierre-Hugues Herbert before
falling to Andrey Rublev.
• Goffin’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the quarterfinals on 3 occasions, including once at the Australian
Open – in 2017, when he fell to Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets. He also reached the quarterfinals at 2016
Roland Garros (l. Dominic Thiem) and at 2019 Wimbledon (l. Novak Djokovic).
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2020, Goffin reached the round of 16 at the US Open (l. Denis Shapovalov)
but fell to Jannik Sinner in the 1st round at Roland Garros.
• Goffin’s best Tour-level result in 2020 was reaching the semifinals at Montpelier (l. Vasek Pospisil). He also
won 3 of the 4 matches he contested as Belgium reached the quarterfinals at last year’s ATP Cup.
• Goffin ended a 5-match Tour-level losing streak at Antalya last month, where he reached the semifinals
(l. Alex de Minaur). He lost his opening match at all 4 events he contested after the US Open last year.
• Prior to the Australian Open, Goffin competed as No. 1 seed at the Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne,
but lost his opening match to Carlos Alcaraz.
2021 Australian Open day 2 men’s match notes• Goffin has won 11 of his last 12 five-set matches. His only defeat in a 5-set match in that time came against
Milos Raonic in the round of 16 at 2016 Wimbledon. He has a 2-1 win-loss record in 5-set matches at the
Australian Open and a 12-4 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
• Goffin became the first Belgian man to break the Top 10 in February 2017 after reaching the final at
Rotterdam and reached a career-high ranking of No. 7 in November that year. He plays here at No. 15.
• Goffin has played Davis Cup for Belgium since 2012 and has a 24-7 overall win-loss record in the competition.
He has led the team to 2 Davis Cup Finals, falling to Great Britain in Ghent in 2015 and to France in Lille in
2017. Belgium will next play away to Bolivia in a World Group I tie in September.
• Goffin is coached by Germain Gigounon.
• Wild card POPYRIN is bidding to reach the 2nd round here for the 3rd straight year. This is his 4th Australian
Open appearance and his 8th Grand Slam overall.
• Last year here, Popyrin equalled his best Grand Slam result by reaching the 3rd round. He overcame
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who retired due to a back injury, and Jaume Munar before falling to Daniil Medvedev in
straight sets. He also reached the 3rd round as a wild card here in 2019 (l. Lucas Pouille) and as a direct
acceptance at the 2019 US Open (l. Matteo Berrettini).
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams last year, Popyrin fell to Lloyd Harris in straight sets in the 1st round at
Roland Garros. He did not compete at the US Open.
• Popyrin recorded just 2 Tour-level match-wins in 2020, both of which came in his 3rd round finish at the
Australian Open. He lost in the 1st round at the 4 other Tour-level events he contested – at Adelaide (l. Laslo
Djere), Montpellier (l. Adrian Mannarino), Roland Garros and Cologne (l. Mannarino).
• Also in 2020, Popyrin reached the semifinals at the Parma Challenger (ITA) (l. Salvatore Caruso) and the
quarterfinals at the Eckental Challenger (GER) (l. Sebastian Korda).
• Prior to the Australian Open Popyrin competed at the Murray River Open in Melbourne. He defeated Borna
Gojo and Tommy Paul for his first Tour-level match-wins since the 2020 Australian Open before falling to
Grigor Dimitrov in the 3rd round.
• Popyrin is bidding to end an 8-match losing streak against Top 20 opposition. He has a 1-9 win-loss record
against Top 20 opposition, with his only victory against a Top 20 player coming against No. 8 Thiem, who
retired due to illness while trailing Popyrin 75 64 2-0 in the 2nd round here in 2019.
• Popyrin is one of 13 Australian men to start this year’s Australian Open main draw – the most since 2000,
when there were also 13. He is looking to become the first native champion to win the Australian Open men’s
singles title since Mark Edmondson in 1976.
• Popyrin lost the only 5-set match he has contested, falling to Pouille in 5 sets in the 3rd round here in 2019.
• Popyrin broke the Top 100 for the first time in June 2019 and reached a career-high ranking of No. 87 the
following month. He plays here at No. 113.
• Popyrin was a successful junior. He won the boys’ singles title at 2017 Roland Garros (d. Nicola Kuhn) and
reached a career-high junior ranking of No. 2. His best result at the Junior Australian Open was a 2nd round
finish in 2017 (d. Ajeet Rai, l. Alexey Zakharov).
• Popyrin made his Davis Cup debut in 2019, defeating Nerman Fatic during Australia’s victory over Bosnia
and Herzegovina in the 2019 Qualifiers. It is the only match he has contested in the competition to date.
Australia defeated Brazil in the Qualifiers last year to secure a place at the 2020 Davis Cup Finals, which
have been rearranged for 2021.
• Popyrin is coached by Philipp Wagner.
2021 Australian Open day 2 men’s match notesNO. 16 FABIO FOGNINI (ITA) v PIERRE-HUGUES HERBERT (FRA)
Head-to-head: first meeting
FOGNINI v HERBERT
33 Age 29
17 ATP Ranking (8 Feb) 84
9 Titles 0
57-48 Career Grand Slam Record 16-22
13-13 Australian Open Record 5-5
367-318 Career Record 87-108
138-152 Career Record - Hard 58-76
3-3 2021 Record 1-2
3-3 2021 Record - Hard 1-2
22-13 Career Five-Set Record 4-4
8 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 1
136-111 Career Tiebreak Record 53-61
3-2 2021 Tiebreak Record 1-1
• FOGNINI is bidding to reach the 2nd round here for the 5th straight year and 7th time overall. This is his 14th
appearance at the Australian Open.
• Fognini is making his 50th Grand Slam appearance. He is the 19th active player to reach 50 Grand Slam
appearances.
• Fognini has lost in the first round here on 7 occasions – on his debut here in 2008 (l. Michael Russell) and
in 2010 (l. Taylor Dent), 2011 (l. Kei Nishikori), 2012 (l. Alejandro Falla), 2013 (l. Roberto Bautista Agut), 2015
(l. Alejandro Gonzalez) and 2016 (l. Gilles Muller).
• Last year here, Fognini equalled his best Australian Open performance by reaching the round of 16. He
defeated Reilly Opelka and Jordan Thompson in 5 sets in the opening 2 rounds, and Guido Pella in straight
sets in the 3rd round, before falling to Tennys Sandgren in 4 sets in the last 16. He has also reached the
round of 16 here in 2014 (l. Novak Djokovic) and 2018 (l. Tomas Berdych).
• Fognini’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the quarterfinals at 2011 Roland Garros when he
became the first Italian man to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam since Davide Sanguinetti at 1998
Wimbledon. He gave a walkover to Djokovic in his quarterfinal match due to a thigh strain – the first time a
player had given a walkover in the quarterfinals of the men’s singles at a Grand Slam since Stefan Edberg
pulled out of his match with Thomas Muster at the 1989 Australian Open.
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2020, Fognini fell to Mikhail Kukushkin in the 1st round at Roland Garros.
He did not compete at the US Open.
• Fognini recorded one match-win between the resumption of play in August and the end of the 2020
season, in a 2nd round finish at Hamburg (d. Philipp Kohlschreiber, l. Casper Ruud). He lost his opening
match at the 3 other events he contested during that time.
• Prior to the Australian Open Fognini represented Italy at the ATP Cup. He won 2 of the 4 singles matches
he contested as Italy finished runners-up to Russia, defeating France’s Benoit Paire and Spain’s Pablo
Carreno Busta but falling to Austria’s Dennis Novak and Russia’s Andrey Rublev. He also competed at
Antalya last month where, as No. 3 seed, he reached the 2nd round (d. Michael Vrbensky, l. Jeremy Chardy).
• Fognini has won 9 Tour-level singles titles, 8 of which have been on clay. His only title on hard courts came
at 2018 Los Cabos (d. Juan Martin del Potro).
• Fognini has won 10 of the last 11 five-set matches he has contested. His only defeat in a 5-set match in that
time came against Marin Cilic in the round of 16 here in 2018. He has a 3-3 win-loss record in 5-set matches
at the Australian Open and a 22-13 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
2021 Australian Open day 2 men’s match notes• Fognini broke the Top 10 for the first time in June 2019 and reached a career-high ranking of No. 9 the
following month. He plays here at No. 17.
• Fognini is an Australian Open doubles champion. He partnered Simone Bolelli to the title here in 2015,
defeating Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut to become the first all-Italian pairing to win a Grand Slam
men’s doubles title since Nicola Pietrangeli/Orlando Sirola at 1959 Roland Garros and the first all-Italian
pairing in history to win the Australian Open men’s doubles title.
• Fognini reached the quarterfinals of the boys’ singles here in 2004, falling to eventual champion Gael
Monfils. He also reached the last 8 at 2004 Junior Roland Garros. He reached a career-high junior ranking of
No. 8 in May 2004.
• Fognini has played Davis Cup for Italy since 2008 and has a 32-15 win-loss record in the competition. He
won the only match he contested in Italy’s victory over Korea, Republic in the Qualifiers last year. The result
secured Italy’s place at the 2020 Davis Cup Finals, which have been rearranged for 2021.
• Fognini is coached by Alberto Mancini.
• HERBERT is bidding to reach the 2nd round here for the 4th time. This is his 6th Australian Open appearance
and his 23rd Grand Slam overall.
• Herbert has lost in the 1st round here on 2 occasions – in 2017 (l. Jack Sock) and 2018 (l. Denis Istomin).
He has lost in the 1st round at the Grand Slams on 10 occasions in total.
• Last year here, Herbert reached the 2nd round (d. Cameron Norrie, l. David Goffin).
• Herbert’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the 3rd round on 4 occasions – including twice at the
Australian Open, as a qualifier on his debut here in 2016 (l. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga) and as a direct acceptance
in 2019 (l. Milos Raonic). He also reached the 3rd round at 2016 Wimbledon (l. Nicolas Mahut) and 2018
Roland Garros (l. John Isner).
• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2020, Herbert reached the 2nd round at Roland Garros, where he
defeated Michael Mmoh before falling to Alexander Zverev in 5 sets. He did not compete at the US Open.
• Herbert’s best results in 2020 were reaching the quarterfinals at both Doha (l. Andrey Rublev) and
Montpellier (l. Goffin).
• Prior to the Australian Open Herbert competed at the Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne, where he
reached the 2nd round (d. Maxime Cressy, l. Jordan Thompson). He also competed at Antalya last month,
where he fell to Goffin in the 1st round.
• Herbert is bidding to end a 9-match Tour-level losing streak against Top 20 players. He has not defeated
a Top 20 opponent since No. 14 Borna Coric retired due to a hamstring injury while trailing Herbert in their
quarterfinal match at 2019 Halle. He has a 9-33 win-loss record against Top 20 players at Tour-level overall.
• Herbert is also bidding to defeat a Top 20 player at a Grand Slam for the 3rd time on his 12th attempt. He
has a 2-9 win-loss record against Top 20 opponents at the Grand Slams, with his 2 victories coming when
No. 20 Nick Kyrgios retired due to a left hip injury in their 1st round match at 2017 Wimbledon and against
No. 14 Daniil Medvedev in the 1st round at 2019 Roland Garros.
• Herbert broke the Top 50 for the first time in October 2018 and reached a career-high ranking of No. 36 in
February 2019. He plays here at No. 84.
• Herbert has reached 3 Tour-level finals – most recently at 2019 Montpellier (l. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga). All 3 of
his final appearances have come on hard courts.
• Herbert has lost 3 of the last 4 five-set matches he has contested, with his only victory in a 5-set match in
that time coming against Cameron Norrie in the 1st round here last year. He has a 1-1 win-loss record in
5-set matches at the Australian Open and a 5-4 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
2021 Australian Open day 2 men’s match notesYou can also read
