Wow,what a big day. And it’s just the second of the tournament.
We had Aussie hopeful Alex de Minaur progress to the second round after his opponent,Milos Raonic,the former world No.3,call an early end to the clash with a hip issue.
It was a rollercoaster night for the nation’s top title hope,who lost the first set in a tense tie-break before working his way on top,only for the Canadian to medically retire from the match. De Minaur won the match 6-7 (6-8),6-3,2-0.
On the same court a few hours later,four-time grand slam champion Naomi Osaka bowed out of her comeback major tournament. The Japanese star was defeated by French ace Caroline Garcia,who won in a tie-breaker 6-4 7-6 (7-2).
Other Aussies that progressed included Alexei Popyrin,with a commanding 6-3,7-6 (7-3),6-2 defeat of fellow Australian Marc Polmans,and Jordan Thompson,with a fifth set masterclass over countryman Aleksandar Vukic 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 3-6 6-4.
Then,there was Rinky Hijikata,who battled it out until well after midnight against German Jan-Lennard Struff but went down in the final tie-break of the fifth set.
Thank you for joining us on this fine second day of the tournament and we’ll see you tomorrow for the continuation of the opening round on day three.
Sleep well!
![Alex de Minaur is through to the second round of the Australian Open.](https://static.ffx.io/images/$width_300%2C$height_150/t_crop_auto/t_sharpen%2Cq_auto%2Cf_auto/37ac5b1bb5cb1fc5c6210ef3e00a399455e60542)
Alex de Minaur is through to the second round of the Australian Open.Eddie Jim