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Tsitsipas knocked out in first round of Australian Open

The moment Michelsen knocks out the 11th seed

Source: Australian Open

Young American Alex Michelsen has held his nerve to send Greek crowd favourite Stefanos Tsitsipas packing in a massive round-one boilover at the Australian Open.

Monday’s deciding fourth set was a memorable one, with the pair trading outrageous winners along with untimely errors, the most costly of which was a double fault from 11th seed Tsitsipas on break point in the ninth game.

The 20-year-old Michelsen then served out the match 7-5 6-3 2-6 6-4 to claim the biggest win of his burgeoning career.

“First of all I just tried to stay super composed out there,” said Michelsen, who struggled at times with his second serve in the deciding set.

“I knew it was going to be a battle out there to the end.”

It was the first time since 2018 that Tsitsipas had lost in the first round at Melbourne Park.

He lost the 2023 final to Novak Djokovic and had also reached the semi-finals at Melbourne Park on three other occasions but is still searching for that elusive maiden major title.

“When I came around in 2018, the game was very different to what it is now – it wasn’t as physical,” the 26-year-old said after his loss.

“I’ve had wins over Novak [Djokovic], and I felt like I played well, and I didn’t have to kind of exceed the most extreme version of myself in that particular match.

“I remember it quite fondly and intensely.

“The game has shifted more towards a physical game and I feel like the margins have become smaller, meaning that you’re not getting as many free points.

“I feel like innovation has stepped in and allowed players to serve even bigger than before.”

Michelsen’s second-round opponent will be either Australian wildcard James McCabe or Spanish qualifier Martin Landaluce.

Later in the day session on Monday, world No.1 Jannik Sinner starts his title defence against Chilean Nicolas Jarry.

The two feature matches of the night session involve 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic and No.3 seed Carlos Alcaraz.

Young star claims first local win

Rising star Talia Gibson has broken through for her maiden win at a grand slam to be the first local through to the Australian Open second round in Melbourne.

The 20-year-old wildcard responded to the vocal home support to upset Turkey’s higher-ranked Zeynep Sonmez 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 on Court 3 on Monday.

Shooting for the lines, Gibson opened up after scraping through the second-set tiebreaker and was rewarded for her courage with the most significant win of her fledgling career.

The world No.150 will pocket a minimum $200,000 for setting up a second-round shot at Spanish 11th seed Paula Badosa on Wednesday.

Veteran Alja Tomljanovic also progressed early on day two with a fighting three-set win over exciting young American Ashlyn Krueger.

Also playing on a wildcard after falling out of the world’s top 100 while battling a nagging knee injury for much of the past two years, Tomljanovic prevailed 6-4 4-6 6-4 after a two-hour, 22-minute slugfest on Margaret Court Arena.

The three-time grand slam quarter-finalist next faces 12th seed Dianna Schnaider on Wednesday, needing to upset the Russian to make the last 32 at Melbourne Park for the first time in 10 attempts.

Gilson and Tomljanovic have already fared batter than compatriots Daria Saville, Adam Walton, Omar Jasika and Li Tu, who were all first-day casualties at Melbourne Park.

Gibson was among a dozen Australians scheduled for day-two action.

World No.27 Jordan Thompson plays German Dominik Koepfer in his first grand slam appearance as a seed after enjoying a breakout 2024 season.

Nick Kyrgios makes his long-awaited grand slam comeback against Brit Jacob Fearnley in one of the feature night matches on Monday.

Kyrgios’s doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis, along with Chris O’Connell, James Duckworth, James McCabe, Tristan Schoolkate, Aleksandar Vukic, Ajla Tomljanovic, Maya Joint and Destanee Aiava also open their campaigns.

-with AAP

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