Monfils and Thiem advance and set up 4th round clash at Australian Open

Gael Monfils is known as an entertainer on the court yet his tennis talent was never doubted. His grand slam career is not one for the ages but he is capable of making deep runs. He started out this year's Australian Open in good fashion winning both matches and dropping only one set. His opponent Gulbis is a tricky opponent because on a good day he proved he can beat anyone.

The first was highlighted by good serving from both players. We ended up in a tiebreak and Monfils came out on top 7-6(2). The 2nd set was a close one as well lasting for almost an hour. Monfils won that as well in close fashion 6-4. The last set was a quicker affair as the French raised his level of play wanting to win it and he did 6-3.

In the next round, he would play the winner of Fritz and Thiem. Taylor Fritz had a stunning comeback against Kevin Anderson but it was a draining match. His opponent also had to go the full distance against Bolt as the Australian nearly beat him.

The match started a bit slow for Fritz allowing Thiem to jump out to a 6-2 lead. He continued to build upon that but had a much tougher task in the 2nd set. Serving well he managed to snatch it 6-4. Taylor Fritz made a push in the 3rd set where he managed to get it to a tiebreak. In his composure proved key as he won it 7-6(5).

It was a clear warning sign for Thiem who started playing better which allowed him to win the last set 6-3. A drop in Taylor's energy and concentration contributed to the victory as well. Thiem advances and set's up the clash against Monfils.

It is worth noting that Andrey Rublev continued his stellar play so far. Andrey defeated Goffin without many issues. He dropped the first set 6-2 but since then it was all Rublev till the end. He won the next 7-6(3) and was even better in the 3rd winning it 6-4 before closing out the last one in another tiebreak 7-6(4).

Hitting 14 aces and winning 78 % of his 1st serves helped him to defeat the Belgian this time and continue his stellar run.

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