We are still in the early rounds of the 2023 Australian Open, the highly anticipated first Grand Slam tournament of this season. In this first part of the tournament there have been big surprises so far and a historic event has taken place.
There will be no Top 3 in the ATP ranking in the third round of this Australian Grand Slam, a rather rare situation in the world of tennis, especially in the men’s world. If world number one Carlos Alcaraz does not participate in the tournament due to injury, the situation is quite different for world number two and world number three Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud.
The defending champion fell yesterday defeated in three sets against the American MacKenzie McDonald. To the detriment of the winner of twenty-two Grand Slam titles, it must be said that Rafa was injured in the second set and moved on, already very sore, only to honor and complete the challenge.
At night we attended another big surprise of the tournament: the young American tennis player Jenson Brooksby eliminated the number two and number three seed in the ATP ranking, Casper Ruud. A beautiful victory, which occurred in four sets and certifies that no result is certain anymore, not even in men’s tennis.
It must be said that the Top 3 is conditioned by the situation of Serbian champion Novak Djokovic: the Balkan tennis player was left out of the Top 3 last year due to regulations in some countries that prevented him from entering.
With the dominance of the Big Three over the years, it was very rare to see top-tier tennis players immediately out. Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal have us very well accustomed and it has not happened since 2002 that there was not even a Top 3 in the third round of the Australian Open.
Nole Djokovic def. Enzo Couacaud
Novak Djokovic was heckled and insulted by a small group of fans who were inebriated. “What I have a problem with is when somebody’s crossing the line – numerous times. From the very beginning, guys that were under the influence of alcohol, it was obvious, and I was grabbing my towel very close to them, particularly one guy, you heard his voice various times tonight, was insulting me and provoking me and saying things that were not respectful at all,” the Serb revealed.
“I can tolerate five, six times somebody telling me something, but there is a limit. That limit was crossed, and I stepped in and I asked the chair umpire, is he going to do something about it or not? He did, and I thanked him,” the Serb stated.
