Australian Open 2023: Jannik Sinner and Hubert Hurkacz strong, Otte already out
Jannik Sinner and Hubert Hurkacz celebrated safe opening victories at the Australian Open 2023. Oscar Otte , on the other hand, had to admit defeat to 17-year-old Shan Juncheng .
by SID/tennisnet
last edit: Jan 16, 2023, 06:58 am
Jannik Sinner and Hubert Hurkacz are certainly not among the absolute top favorites at the Australian Open 2023, but the two top 15 players are two men for whom the journey - if the circumstances are right - can go a long way. At least that's the impression given by the opening matches between the Italian and the Pole.
Hubert Hurkacz won against Pedro Martinez, had to fight a bit in the first round, but after winning the tiebreak with 6:2 and 6:2 he was no longer naked. Jannik Sinner, on the other hand, literally swept the returnee Kyle Edmund off the field: the South Tyrolean only lost six games in a 6: 4, 6: 0 and 6: 2 win.
Shapovalov and Korda further
Two men who performed well in preparation for the Australian Open 2023, Sebastian Korda and Denis Shapovalov, also celebrated kick-offs. Although the two North Americans had to accept the set equalization in the second round, both Shapovalov against Dusan Lajovic and Korda against Cristian Garin left nothing to be desired.
However, Oscar Otte suffered a bitter first round: The 29-year-old German number two had to admit defeat to the 17-year-old Chinese Shang Juncheng 2: 6, 4: 6, 7: 6 (7: 2), 5: 7 . The man from Cologne missed a win in his fourth match this year and is looking for his form.
Otte fails due to youngster
Otte had problems with Shang from the start, the youngest qualifier in a Grand Slam since today's world number one Carlos Alcaraz 2021 in Melbourne. The world number 194. served consistently and had good length in his aggressive baseline shots, while Otte lacked the rhythm for a long time. It was only in the third set that the Davis Cup player managed to take control more often and played his serve strength in the tie-break. But his opponent was not impressed and prevailed.
Here is the men's individual tableau
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