Day 4: Popyrin, Bolt ready for AO action
Alexei Popyrin will look to join fellow Aussie teenager Alex De Minaur in the third round at Melbourne Park while Alex Bolt aims to continue his renaissance against Gilles Simon.
Melbourne, VIC, 17 January 2019 | AAP
Another Aussie teen could make his mark at Melbourne Park with Alexei Popyrin looking to join Alex De Minaur in the third round of the Australian Open.
De Minaur withstood a fightback from Swiss qualifier Henri Laaksonen on Wednesday night to earn a five-set victory and set up a Friday night meeting with Spanish bull Rafael Nadal.
While fellow local hopes John Millman, Jordan Thompson and Matt Ebden all bowed out, De Minaur triumphed 6-4 6-2 6-7(7) 4-6 6-3.
Popyrin, also 19, gets his chance against world No.8 Austrian Dominic Thiem on Melbourne Arena on Thursday.
Making his major debut, Popyrin is a French Open junior champion and has long been touted as a future top 10 prospect.
Currently ranked 149, he looked the real deal in his comfortable first round win over Mischa Zverev.
As Popyrin gets a taste of the big stage, fellow Australian Alex Bolt will be on Court 3 against French veteran Simon Gilles, the No.29 seed.
Fellow wildcard Bolt took down American Jack Sock in four sets in their opening round clash.
Like Popyrin, Bolt is through to the second round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
It continues a strong past few months on tour during which he reached the Challenger final in Fairfield, the semifinals of the Traralgon Challenger and then last week advanced to the final round of Sydney qualifying.