Medvedev sees off Kyrgios, Muguruza and Kontaveit bow out in women's singles second round

The World No.115 Kyrgios worked up the home crowd, hit tweeners and drop shots, mixed up the pace of his ground strokes and tossed an under-arm serve in a bid to ruffle the second-ranked Russian. But, Medvedev kept his composure to register a 7-6(1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory at a raucous Rod Laver Arena here.

In an on-court TV interview with former champion Jim Courier, Medvedev was asked about how he managed to stay composed. “That is the only choice when you get booed between the first and second serve,” he said, triggering more boos from the crowd. “It is not easy. It is tough to play,” added Medvedev.

The fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece defeated Sebastian Baez (Argentina) 7-6(1), 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 in a match featuring two former top-ranked junior players. However, it was curtains for five-time runner-up Andy Murray from Great Britain, who went down 4-6, 4-6, 4-6 to 120th-ranked Taro Daniel (Japan). Australian wild-card entry Chris O’Connell upset 13th-seeded Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-4.

There were surprises in the women’s draw, with No.3 Garbine Muguruza (Spain) becoming the highest-seeded player to exit, only minutes after No.6 Anett Kontaveit from Estonia lost. While Muguruza suffered a 3-6, 3-6 defeat at the hands of Alize Cornet of France, Kontaveit went down 2-6, 3-6 to 19-year-old Clara Tauson of Denmark.

US Open 2021 champion Emma Raducanu (Great Britain) also exited in the second round after being undone 4-6, 6-4, 3-6 by Danka Kovinic of Montenegro.