“I think for sure that helps me a lot and also the conditions.” “It helps me a lot, I think, to refresh the energy, staying at home for a while and a month, month and a half for practice before Australia to work well, to do a lot of practice sessions, to do a lot of physical stuff,” he shared with me Thursday ahead of his third-round showdown with Taylor Fritz. Seven of his seventeen Top 10 victories have occurred in January, which includes recent wins against Hubert Hurkacz and Casper Ruud at the ATP Cup.
Of Bautista Agut’s nine career singles titles, four have come in the lead-up to the Australian Open: two in Auckland and one each in Chennai and Doha. In some ways, it makes all the sense when considering his deep connection to the intelligent species (he owns eight according to his ATP profile) and widespread acclaim for his workhorse mentality. While Andujar has struggled to come out swinging at the start of past years, Bautista Agut has been akin to a horse, off to the races when the bell sounds for the tennis calendar page to turn. If there is a counterpoint in the draw to Andujar, it just may be compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut. I worked a lot to get these two matches and I made it. Nice center court, probably,” he says, a prediction later cemented with the two lined up to open Saturday’s night session in Rod Laver Arena. “I didn't expect it, but I'm really happy and I have to enjoy it. 32 seed’s home major is as golden as they get for the Spaniard. Before this week, Andujar had never recorded multiple tour-level wins in the first month of any season, so the opportunity to face off against Alex de Minaur at the No. Just 3-10 in main draws before 2022, his struggles were an extension of a remarkably dry January for a competitor who’s been ranked as high as No. But it’s certainly the most romantic of any trips he’s taken Down Under.įifteen years ago, Andujar’s first experience at the Melbourne major ended hastily when he posted two games in a qualifying defeat.
This latest chapter is not as grandiose as outshining a Top 5 competitor in Paris, not now at least. 355, a long-awaited first trip to the second week of a major at the 2019 US Open, and wins in 2021 over Roger Federer (Geneva) and Dominic Thiem (Roland Garros) on the surface he cherishes most, clay. The love Andujar has given and seen returned by his sport since that tumultuous period has included celebrating an ATP trophy as a world No. Reaching this state is a testament to his character and commitment, for years earlier, a bitter divorce would have been a conclusion anyone could empathize with after he underwent three separate right elbow surgeries between March 2016 and April 2017. Today, one can appreciate that Andujar has achieved a healthy marriage with the tennis court. His smile brightens up my monitor after I start our chat by saying, “in your first 10 main draws at Melbourne Park, we couldn’t have shared this conversation.” ATP Tour veteran Pablo Andujar is the first to confess his place in the third round of this year’s Australian Open comes as a surprise.
0 kommentar(er)
