Getty Photographs
One of many marquee matchups of the Australian Open second spherical will happen on Wednesday, when Casper Ruud faces Jakub Mensik. Felix Auger-Aliassime continues his marketing campaign towards Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
(6) Casper Ruud vs. Jakub Mensik
Ruud and Mensik will probably be going head-to-head for the primary time of their careers after they conflict in spherical two of the Australian Open on Wednesday. Though Ruud is ranked significantly increased than his opponent, this guarantees to be among the best matches of the match up so far. In spite of everything, Mesik is without doubt one of the tour’s rising stars. The 19-year-old Czech climbed to No. 48 on this planet with 25 main-tour match wins in 2024 and he’s off to a powerful begin this season. Mensik reached back-to-back quarterfinals in Brisbane and Hong Kong earlier than taking good care of Nikoloz Basilashvili in 4 units on Monday.
It has additionally been a stellar month of January thus far for Ruud. The sixth-ranked Norwegian is 3-0 with United Cup victories over Hubert Hurkacz and Tomas Machac to associate with a five-set survival towards Jaume Munar on Sunday. Nevertheless, that was a scratchy first-round efficiency–so Ruud as soon as once more appears to be like susceptible in Melbourne, the place he’s 10-7 all time (qualifying matches included) with solely two journeys previous the second spherical and none previous the fourth. Sound the upset alert.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. (29) Felix Auger-AliassimeAuger-Aliassime may hardly be hotter to start out the season, and it’s simply what the physician ordered given his 2023 and 2024 struggles. The Twenty third-ranked Canadian is 6-1 with a title in Adelaide and wins over No. 4 Taylor Fritz and No. 12 Tommy Paul. With out a lot relaxation following his Adelaide exploits, Auger-Aliassime obtained proper again in gear to beat Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 on Monday.
