FOUR of the top eight players are out of the Adelaide International with news filtering through that top seed Alex de Minaur had withdrawn from the tournament yesterday. He chose to exit, but he was joined on an extended break before the Australian Open by fifth seed Taylor Fritz, sixth seed Cristian Garin and eighth seed Reilly Opelka. Garin went down to South Africa’s Lloyd Harris – ranked one spot inside the top 100 – 7-6 3-6 6-4, Fritz suffered defeat at the hands of 55th ranked Kazakhstani Alexander Bublik 6-4 7-6, while Opelka had a rough draw facing top 50 prospect Pablo Cuevas, losing 5-7 7-6 7-6 in the tightest match of the day.

While Australia lost its great white hope for the title, it was mixed results for the home nation with James Duckworth getting up in straight sets over Argentinian qualifier Federico Delbonis 6-4 6-4, while Alexei Popyrin fought hard but went down in three sets to Serbia’s Laslo Djere 7-6 3-6 6-4. Now Duckworth will need to step up to the next level when he faces the number two seed, Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round. Two other seeds had a bye, in third seed Andrey Rublev who now faces American Sam Querrey after Querrey got up in three sets over French qualifier, Gregoire Barrere 6-7 6-2 7-6.

In the other games, Jeremy Chardy toppled out-of-form compatriot Gilles Simon in the battle of the Frenchmen, winning 6-3 7-5, while in-form Brit, Daniel Evans continued his stunning month with a 6-2 6-4 smashing of Juan Ignacio Londero. Chardy takes on rested fourth seed, Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta, while Evans faces Bublik for the chance to potentially play Rublev in the quarter finals. Djere and Harris face-off in the second orund, while lucky loser Jaume Munar – who took de Minaur’s place with a bye in the first round – will face the winner of Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Jordan Thompson who play today.

Cuevas will take on the winner of today’s match between Slovakia’s Aljaz Bedene and American qualifier Tommy Paul, while the other two matches to take place today are veteran Fernando Verdasco trying to topple seventh seed German, Jan-Lennard Struff, and Australian wildcard Alex Bolt facing Frenchman, Pierre-Hugues Herbert with the winners from those games to face off in the second round.

Day 1 Results:

Alexander Bublik (KAZ) defeated [5] Taylor Fritz (USA) 6-4 7-6
Lloyd Harris (RSA) defeated [6] Cristian Garin (CHI) 7-6 3-6 6-4
Pablo Cuevas (URG) defeated [8] Reilly Opelka (USA) 5-7 7-6 7-6
Jeremy Chardy (FRA) defeated Gilles Simon (FRA) 6-3 7-5
Laslo Djere (SRB) defeated [WC] Alexei Popyrin (AUS) 7-6 3-6 6-4
Daniel Evans (GBR) defeated Juan Ignacio Londero (ARG) 6-2 6-4
Sam Querrey (USA) defeated [Q] Gregoire Barrere (FRA) 6-7 6-2 7-6
[WC] James Duckworth (AUS) defeated [Q] Federico Delbonis (ARG) 6-4 6-4