Australian Open: Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev cruise into 4th round

World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev breezed past Botic Van de Zandshulp of the Netherlands in
straight sets to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open for a fourth
consecutive year on Saturday.

The US Open champion two won 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 at the Margaret Court Arena to his place among the
last 16. The win came two days after the Russian ousted Australian Nick Kyrgios
in a challenging second round tie.

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The crowd
turned on Medvedev as he took on a local favourite, unsettling the Russian by the constant booing and jeering during
the match against 26-year-old Australian. But Medvedev, who lost to Novak
Djokovic in the 2021 final in Melbourne, did not face the same issues today.

“I’ll put
it this way. It’s easier to play a guy from Netherlands than a guy from
Australia in Australia, in Melbourne,” Medvedev told the crowd after the match.
“Every good relationship must have its ups and downs. I hope it’s going to be
more good times than bad times, otherwise it doesn’t work.”

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Medvedev
will face 24-year-old American Maxime Cressy in the fourth round, who beat Australian
wildcard entry Chris O’Connell.

Meanwhile, fourth
seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas prevailed over Benoit Paire to reach the fourth round.
The 23-year-old Greek won 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (2), 6-4 and will also face a
24-year-old American – Taylor Fritz in the next round.

Tsitsipas
had reached the semifinals at Melbourne Park last year, where he lost to
Medvedev, before losing to Novak Djokovic in the Roland Garros final.

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Fritz, on
the other hand, has reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the
first time after beating world number 15 Roberto Bautista Agut 6-0, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4,
6-3 on Saturday.

20th
seed Fritz, who is contesting his sixth Australian Open and 22nd major overall,
recorded just his second win and seven head-to-head meetings with Bautista
Agut, a 33-year-old Spaniard.