THERE was plenty of excitement had at both the Great Ocean Road Open and Murray River Open as a number of big names plied their trade and showcased their flashy style while a couple of surprise losses also headlined the Round of 32 action. With plenty of experienced heads on court, there was a slight glimpse to the future with some fresh faces making a name for themselves thanks to some big scalps.

It was another action packed day at the Great Ocean Road Open as a plethora of seeded players progressed through to the next round with the likes of Karen Khachanov, Hubert Hurkacz and Jannik Sinner getting the job done in two sets against their respective opponents. Australian, Max Purcell put Khachanov through his paces pushing him to a tiebreaker in the first but simply could not maintain that intensity throughout going down 7-6 6-3. It was a similar tale for fellow Australian, Aleksandar Vukic whose journey ended against Sinner with the Italian flexing his muscles and motoring past Vukic to claim a 6-2 6-4 victory. However the talking point of the day came through a major upset with number one seed, David Goffin bundled out in straight sets by up and coming Spanish youngster Carlos Alcaraz  6-3 6-3. Alcaraz is quickly making a name for himself with the youngster proving that the hype surrounding him on the ITF circuit is more than warranted with his impressive demolition performance against Goffin.

Australian Christopher O’Connell fell agonisingly short of victory against eight seed Alexander Bublik with the two partaking in a  gruelling two hour battle. Although Bublik walked away with the chocolates 7-6 6-7 6-4 he was well and truly pushed to his limits with the first and second sets going to tiebreakers. Speaking of three setters Americans Tennys Sandgren and Sam Querrey were bundled out in their respective matches as their Italian opponents capitalised on their opportunities. Salvatore Caruso took care of Sandgren 6-4 6-7 6-4 while Stefano Travaglia edged ahead thanks to some strong form in the backend of the match 6-7 6-3 6-4.

GREAT OCEAN ROAD OPEN RESULTS

Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) defeated David Goffin (BEL) 6-3 6-3
[2] Karen Khachanov (RUS) defeated Max Purcell (AUS) 7-6 6-3
[3] Hubert Hurkacz (POL) defeated Mikael Torpegaard (DEN) 6-4 6-3
[4] Jannik Sinner (ITA) defeated Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) 6-2 6-4
Mario Vilella Martinez (ESP) defeated [5] Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) 7-5 6-3
[6] Reilly Opelka (USA) defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 7-6 6-4
[7] Miomir Kecmanovic (CRO) defeated Soonwoo Kwon (KOR) 6-3 6-4
[8] Alexander Bublik (KAZ) defeated Christopher O’Connell (AUS) 7-6 6-7 6-4
Salvatore Caruso (ITA) defeated [9] Tennys Sandgren (USA) 6-4 6-7 6-4
Stefano Travaglia (ITA) defeated [10] Sam Querrey (USA) 6-7 6-3 6-4
[11] Jordan Thompson (AUS) defeated Pierre-Hughes Herbert (FRA) 6-4 3-6 6-3
[13] Aljaz Bedene (SLO) defeated Dane Sweeny (AUS) 6-0 6-4
Kevin Anderson (RSA) defeated Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (GER) 6-4 6-2
Pablo Cuevas (URU) defeated Robin Haase (NED) 7-5 6-3
Thiago Monteiro (BRA) defeated [ALT] Matthew Ebden (AUS) 6-7 6-4 6-3
Botic Van de Zandschulp (NED) defeated [PR] Kamil Majchrzak (POL) 6-4 3-6 6-4

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Despite being forced to three sets, Swiss talent Stan Wawrinka managed to progress through to the next round of the Murray River Open. Up against Mikhail Kukushkin, the number one seed dug deep and really put the foot down in the final set to claim victory in their two hour long match 4-6 6-3 6-1. Keeping that theme rolling of top seeds progressing was Grigor Dimitrov who made light work of Australian Andrew Harris 6-3 6-3 while up and coming Canadian youngster Felix Auger-Aliassime managed to claim another win by comfortably defeating Japan’s Yuichi Sugita. Croatian and fourth seed Borna Coric lived to see another day pushing past Emil Ruusuvuori in two sets despite the overall match lasting an hour and forty minutes 7-5 6-4. It was a good day for Jiri Vesley with the Czech causing an upset win against fifth seed Casper Ruud to stop his campaign in his tracks 5-7 7-6 6-3.

It was an all Australian affair as Nick Kyrgios and Harry Bourchier went head to head with the thirteenth seed showcasing his power and dominance against his lesser experienced opponent. Pushed to a tiebreak in the third Kyrgios managed to fight off a spirited Bourchier and walk away with the win 6-2 7-6. Both Alex Bolt and Alexei Popyrin moved through to the next stage getting over the top of their American counterparts although Bolt had his work cut out for him surviving a challenging three setter against Mackenzie McDonald 6-4 6-7 7-5.

Murray River Open results

[1] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) defeated Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) 4-6 6-3 6-1
[2] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) defeated [WC] Andrew Harris (AUS) 6-3 6-3
[3] Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) defeated Yuicji Sugita (JAP) 6-3 6-1
[4] Borna Coric (CRO) defeated Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) 7-5 6-4
Jiri Vesley (CZE) defeated [5] Casper Ruud (NOR) 7-5 6-4
[6] Taylor Fritz (USA) defeated Federico Coria (ARG) 6-2 6-1
James Duckworth (AUS) defeated [7] Ugo Humbert (FRA) 7-6 6-4
[8] Daniel Evans (GBR) defeated Pedro Sousa (POR) 6-3 7-5
Marcos Giron (USA) defeated [10] Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 6-3 6-4
Corentin Moutet (FRA) defeated [12] Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 6-4 6-4
[13] Nick Kyrgios (AUS) defeated [ALT] Harry Bourchier (AUS) 6-2 6-7
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) defeated [15] Tommy Paul (USA) 6-4 6-3
Egor Gerasimov (BLR) defeated [16] Marton Fucsovics (HUN) 6-3 1-6 6-3
Ricardas Berankis (LTU) defeated [WC] Jason Kubler (AUS) 7-6 7-5
Alex Bolt (AUS) defeated Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 6-4 6-7 7-5
Jeremy Chardy (FRA) defeated Gilles Simon (FRA) 6-3 6-4