Two-time finalist Daniil Medvedev suffered a shock third-round defeat by American Sebastian Korda at the Australian Open as top players continue to fall in the men’s draw.
Former US Open champion and seventh seed Medvedev lost 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-4) to 22-year-old Korda.
Top two seeds Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud are already out, although third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas won on Friday.
Russia’s Medvedev had reached the final at the Australian Open for the past two years but could not match Korda’s level on Rod Laver Arena.
“I think it was a top match where he was just better than me,” said Medvedev, who lost his last four matches of 2022.
“I won many matches like this. Right now, I’m struggling a little bit to win these kind of matches against opponents that can play a good level.”
Korda went through to the fourth round in Melbourne for the first time, following the footsteps of his father, Petr, who won the tournament in 1998.
His mother Regina Rajchrtova was also a professional tennis player, while his sisters Jessica and Nelly are LPGA golfers.
“My family loves playing Australia, we’ve got a lot of awesome moments here,” said Korda, who is ranked 31st in the world.
“Both of my sisters have won the Australian Open in women’s golf. My mum’s career-high [ranking] was 24, my dad was two, Nelly was one and Jessica was six so I’m definitely the worst athlete in the family so far.”
(BBC Sport)