Botic van de Zandschulp and Tallon Greek track off to a good start in 2022 | Tennis

Van de Zandschulp, the number 57 in the world, finished on the service of Mannarino on his first match point. The 33-year-old Frenchman is number 71 in the global ranking. Van de Zandschulp managed to break Mannarino once in the first set and he did so again at the start of the second set. The Dutchman hardly ran into problems on his own service. Van de Zandschulp (26) will compete in the second round against American Mackenzie McDonald, the number 55 in the world who defeated Peter Gojowczyk from Germany in two sets: 6-0 6-3.

Greek track (25) was immediately broken in the first game, but quickly recovered with two breaks on Köpfer’s service. An early break in the second set gave him the win. Greek track, 65th in the global ranking, will meet the winner of the match between Australian Alexei Popyrin and Stefano Travaglia from Italy in the second round. If he wins, he may face a duel with the first-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the third round.

Last year, Van de Zandschulp and Greek Spoor made it to the global top 100. They are therefore both certain of participating in the Australian Open, the first grand slam tournament of the year, which starts on January 17.

Greek track has been unbeaten since his defeat at the US Open against Novak Djokovic at the beginning of September. He went on to win five challenger tournaments in a row.

Asthma keeps Kyrgios off track

Australian Nick Kyrgios withdrew from the tournament in Melbourne at the last minute. Kyrgios (26) has not been feeling well for several days. “I’ve had several corona tests, all of which were negative,” said the Australian, who dropped to 93rd place in the world ranking due to physical problems.

According to the organization, Kyrgios has withdrawn due to asthmatic complaints. The Australian would make his comeback in Melbourne after a knee injury that kept him sidelined for the last few months of last year. Kyrgios played his last match at the Laver Cup in Boston at the end of September. He then took a break to rest his knee and prepare for the Australian Open.

Kyrgios, winner of six ATP titles, has been awarded a wildcard to next week’s tournament in Sydney. That is the latest ‘warm-up’ for the grand slam event in Melbourne.