Luca Van Assche and Jakub Mensik managed to enter the second round of the Australian Open, Melbourne in the 2024 season for the first time in their careers.
The 19 year old tennis player, Van Assche, who lost in the first round of the Australian Open last season, fought as hard as he could to beat the host tennis player, James Duckworth 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the round. The first one lasted 3 hours 36 minutes.
The French tennis player who competed at the Next Gen ATP Finals, Jeddah in December 2023, won 88 percent of the points from his first serve.
READ ALSO : Felix Auger Aliassime Returns Dominic Thiem
Although Duckworth was able to capitalize on both break point opportunities she created, the world number 87 applied constant pressure, including creating 13 break point opportunities while converting five of them.
For a place in the third round of the Australian Open, Luca Van Assche will next challenge an Italian tennis player, Lorenzo Musetti, who beat another French player, Benjamin Bonzi, 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 6-2.
Meanwhile, the 18 year old tennis player, Mensik, was able to beat Canadian tennis player Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 on his debut in Melbourne.
“This is an amazing experience,” exclaimed Mensik. “This is only my second experience playing in a Grand Slam main draw and I feel happy that I got the win today. Competing against Shapovalov, a former top 10 ranked tennis player who has great abilities, so it was very intense from the start. I was happy to win in three straight sets and to be able to move on. This has not been completed.”
The Czech tennis player, who went through the qualifying rounds, advanced to the third round of the US Open last season and showed why he could achieve it against Shapovalov. He saved all eight break point opportunities he created and hit 31 winners in a match that lasted 2 hours 21 minutes.
“It was an amazing experience when I played my first Grand Slam last season and qualified for the third round. I can show the confidence and experience I have gained here in Australia. “I feel more confident because I know the feeling when competing in a Grand Slam against the best players,” added Mensik.
In the second round, Mensik must prepare himself well because he will duel against the ninth seed, Hubert Hurkacz, who eliminated the host player, Omar Jasika, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Another young tennis player and 16th seed, Ben Shelton also got through the first hurdle after he claimed a 6-2, 7-6, 7-5 victory over Spanish veteran, Roberto Bautista Agut and booked a second round match against the host tennis player, Christopher O’Connell.
