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Patna : World No Rafael Nadal, 34, Spain; World No 4 Daniil Medvedev, 24, Russia; World No 10 Matteo Berrettini, 24, Italy; World No 17 Fabio Fognini, 33, Italy, and World No 20 Karen Khachanov, 24, reached 3rd round of Australian Open, a Grand Slam tournament, on February 11, 2021, winning their respective 2nd round matches at Melbourne Park, Australia.
2nd Seed Rafael Nadal, the winner of record equalling 20 Grand Slam singles titles, beat World No 177 Michael Mmoh, 23, USA, a qualifier, in straight sets 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 winning 5 break points and 5 games in a row during the match to enter the 3rd round of AO. Nadal, the 2009 AO champion, won 86 points in the match to 54 by Mmoh. The American, however, fired 8 Aces during the match to 7 by the Spainiard. World No 1 Novak Djokovic, 33, Serbia, and World No 3 Dominic Thiem, 27, Austria, reached AO 3rd round on February 10, 2021.
Fourth seed Daniil Medvedev beat World No 99 Roberto Carballes Baena, 27, Spain, in straight sets 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 to sail into the third round. The Russian won 7 break points in the match to 2 by Baena. Medvedev also won 6 games in a row during the match to 3 by Baena. The Russian fired 12 Aces during the match to none by the Spainirad. Medvedev, i n all, won 95 points in the match to 53 by Baena. The Russian will face 28th seed World No 33 Filip Krajinovic, 28, Serbia, in third round on February 13, 2021.
Sixteenth seed Fabio Fognini beat compatriot Salvatore Caruso, 28, the World No 78, in a five -set marathon 4-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 to reach the 3rd round of AO. Both the players won 3 break points each during the match. Fognini won one tiebreak too. Both the players also won 3 games each in a row during the match. Fognini, in all, won 154 points to 141 by Caruso. Caruso, however, fired 10 Aces during the match to 5 by Fognini.
19th Seed Karen Khachanov beat World No 73 Ricardas Berankis, 30, Lithuania, in straight sets 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 winning 4 break points and 4 games in a row during the match to reach 3rd round. Khachanov fired 12 Aces in the match to 4 by Berankis. Berankis had defeated Sumit Nagal, India, in first round.
World No 10 Matteo Berrettini, 24, Italy, beat World No 199 Tomas Machac, 20, Czech Republic, a qualifier, in four-sets 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to reach third round. Berrettini won 5 break points in the match to 1 by Thomas. The Italian hammered 19 Aces during the match to 9 by Tomas. Berrettini won 5 games in a during the match to 2 by Tomas.