- Greek star is a former Grand Slam finalist
- Was seeded 11th for the tournament
In the first major setback of the Australian Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas was knocked off the court and out of the tournament in a stunning four-set loss to unseeded American star Alex Michelsen.
Tstisipas lost 7-5 6-3 2-6 6-4 at the John Cain Arena after establishing himself as a fan favorite as he stormed to the men’s singles final last year.
The world number 12 made a brief comeback in the third set, but Michelsen – who is ranked 42nd on the ATP tour – wrestled the match back in the deciding stanza to record one of the biggest victories of his career.
It is the second consecutive first-round exit at a grand slam for the Greek star, who fell at the first hurdle at last year’s US Open when he lost to Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis in four sets.
The win marks the first time Michelsen, 20, has defeated a top 20 player at a grand slam.
The decisive fourth set was memorable, with the pair trading outrageous winners and untimely errors, the most expensive of which was a double fault from 11th seed Tsitsipas on break point in the ninth game.
The Australian Open dream is over for another year for Stefanos Tsitsipas (pictured), who suffered a stunning first-round defeat on Monday
The Greek fan favorite dropped the first two sets to unseeded American Alex Michelsen (pictured with Tstitpas after match point), who recorded the biggest win of his career
It is the second exit in a row in the first round of a grand slam for Tsitsipas, who also stumbled over the first hurdle at the US Open last year.
A clearly shattered Tsitsipas managed to share a warm embrace with the American at the net after match point.
“First of all, I just tried to stay super calm,” said Michelsen, who occasionally struggled with his second serve in the deciding set.
“I knew it was going to be a battle until the end.”
It was the first time since 2018 that Tsitsipas lost in the first round at Melbourne Park.
He lost the 2023 final to Novak Djokovic and has also reached the semi-finals at Melbourne Park three times, but is still in search of that elusive first major title.
Michelsen’s opponent in the second round will be Australian wildcard James McCabe or Spanish qualifier Martin Landaluce.
Later in the day session on Monday, world number 1 Jannik Sinner begins his title defense against Chilean Nicolas Jarry.
The two main matches of the night session involve 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic and No. 3 seed Carlos Alcaraz.
Coco Gauff was pictured in her straight-sets victory over Sofia Kenin on Monday
In a result that went as expected on Monday, Coco Gauff continued her recent red-hot form to beat compatriot and 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 6-3 6-3 to advance to the second round at Melbourne Park.
Reigning French Open champion Gauff was not at her best on Monday.
But she was still too good for world number 74 Kenin, who is a shadow of the player who won her first grand slam title at Melbourne Park in 2020 and reached the final of the French Open later that year.
She had also defeated Gauff in two of their previous three meetings (both at the Majors), but could not match that in key moments on Monday with No. 3.
Gauff, 20, has won her past 10 matches in a row and is on a 19-2 win-loss streak dating back to late September, including title victories at the recent United Cup in Sydney, the WTA Tour Finals in Saudi Arabia and China. Open.