Unseeded American Tennys Sandgren, ranked No 97 in the world, caused a shock at the Australian Open when he ousted 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka in straight sets.
The 26-year-old Sandgren recently broke into the top 100 of the world rankings but he had too much on the night for the three-time Grand Slam champion, winning their second-round encounter 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 on Margaret Court Arena.
It was the biggest upset on the men’s side of the draw so far, on a sweltering day.
While an official temperature high of 39.9°C was recorded in Melbourne, commentators reckoned that the temperature on the Rod Laver Court itself ‘must have reached between 50 and 60°C’.
One player severely affected was Frenchman Gael Monfils, who lost 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 to 12-time Grand Slam singles champion Novak Djokovic. ‘I got super dizzy,’ said Monfils. ‘I think I had a small heat stroke for 40 minutes. Couldn’t feel fresh.’
Even Djokovic, a six-time champion in Australia, felt the conditions were ‘brutal’.
‘It was obvious that we both suffered today,’ the Serbian, playing his second official match after missing six months with an elbow problem, told on-court interviewer Jim Courier and the crowd.
‘Really tough conditions, brutal, especially for the first hour and a half. I was coming into the match knowing it was going to be a big challenge for both of us. Just hanging in there, trying to use every single opportunity that is presented. Obviously he wasn’t at his best at the end of the second and the entire third set.’
Monfils appeared to be the player most affected on Thursday. No players retired and men’s fifth seed Dominic Thiem even engineered a two-set comeback, rallying against American Denis Kudla 6-7 (6-8), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza and Briton Johanna Konta were upset in the open women’s draw but neither blamed the conditions, while Maria Sharapova set up a clash with resurgent 2016 champion Angelique Kerber.
World No 88 Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan defeated Muguruza 7-6 (7-1), 6-4, while twice Grand Slam semi-finalist Konta fell to lucky loser Bernarda Pera 6-4, 7-5.
Kerber registered an 11th straight win to begin 2018 in beating Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-1, with Sharapova getting the better of her conqueror at the US Open, Anastasija Sevastova, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4).
Women’s No 1 Simona Halep showed no ill-effects from the ankle injury she sustained in the first round, comfortably dispatching 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard 6-2, 6-2 in the night session.
Juan Martin Del Potro, the 2009 US Open winner, overcame a medical timeout for a left leg injury to oust Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (0-7), 6-4.
Del Potro is one of the danger men for Roger Federer in the Swiss’ quarter of the draw but another one, No 7 seed David Goffin, was upset by veteran Julien Benneteau 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 7-6 (7-4).
‘It was really difficult to play,’ Del Potro said. ‘Almost 40 degrees out there is too much for the health, you know. We did a big effort to play good tennis. The weather condition was too high for playing tennis. Also you can see the crowds, nobody was there watching under the sun.’
Federer benefited from playing in the relative cool of the evening to claim an ultimately comfortable 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) win against Jan-Lennard Struff.
‘I knew he was going to go for his shots, it’s a question of protecting your own serve as well as you can, then try to get a break,’ said Federer. ‘I thought it was a good match, I enjoyed it.’
The Swiss legend will meet Frenchman Richard Gasque in the third round.
Photo: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images
