Australian Open: Fognini, Cilic, Dimitrov - hard work for the experienced
A match tie-break in the fifth set had to decide on the winner of a match at the Australian Open three times on Wednesday. And three times a veteran was right in the middle.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jan 23, 2020, 08:37 am
When Fabio Fognini , Grigor Dimitrov and Marin Cilic began their more or less illustrious careers, the tennis world was even clearer, especially at the Grand Slam events: In New York City, the golden rule is that the fifth sentence is a tiebreak played, with the other three majors to the bitter end. In the meantime, each Grand Slam tournament cooks its own soup, that at the Australian Open provides the following ingredient with regard to the decision set: a match tie break up to ten, to be carried out at a score of 6: 6. Although this regulation is not yet old (first introduced last year), winners cheering too early, such as Katie Boulter in 2019, have not yet become conspicuous during the current edition.
The veterans Cilic, Fognini and Dimitrov also knew exactly what to get into on Wednesday - and at least the Bulgarians and the Italians stumbled into the showdown with somewhat similar conditions: Dimitrov hadn't been able to reserve against Tommy Paul, Fognini on serve Jordan Thompson awarded multiple match balls.
Fognini against Opelka to the bitter end
And Fabio Fognini in general: The Italian played his entry fee on each of the first three days of the tournament, the match against Reilly Opelka dragged on Monday through Tuesday. Opelka had remained successful against Fognini at the 2019 US Open, this time Fabio could return the favor. After 0: 2 set lag. And finally in the match tie-break. Against Thompson then the reverse of the game: This time Fognini took the first two sets, the local hero equalized, but only won four of the last 14 points. Although Fognini also celebrated his victory verbally - the loudest scream came from Corrado Barazzutti, the coach of the man from Genoa.
Marin Cilic had long been showered and probably already in bed - and he too was satisfied. Cilic has not won a tournament in 2019 for the first time in the entire recorded tennis history, contests the first major of the year from an unoccupied position. And worked his way through an astonishingly emotional Benoit Pair up to the final chord with 10: 3 superior lead in the afternoon sultry.
Paul sends Dimitrov home
That leaves Grigor Dimitrov, the fashion trendsetter at this year's Australian Open. The ATP world champion from 2017 came in again with his dotted tracksuit, an instant classic on all social media. Somehow, however, an unprecedented fighting spirit awoke in Tommy Paul, which had been overlooked by the USTA last year when it issued the wild cards for the main field of the US Open. The reason why Paul did not honor such a wildcard in duplicate with due seriousness a few years ago probably comes close to the truth.
No matter. Paul sent Dimitrov home to meet Marton Fucsovics, who, after Dennis Shapovalov, breaded the next youngster with Jannik Sinner. Sinner, however, will never succumb to the confusion of the decision sentence: For the South Tyrolean, the Australian Open was only the second Grand Slam event of his career. He only knows the rules as they have been practiced since the beginning of 2019.
Here is the men's individual tableau at the Australian Open
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