Australian battler Christopher O’Connell’s US Open campaign is over.
O’Connell, who made a dream Flushing Meadows debut by beating Serbian Laslo Djere, bowed out 6-3 6-2 6-4 to Daniil Medvedev in the second round on Thursday.
The Russian No.3 seed, beaten by Rafael Nadal in last year’s classic final, broke 116th-ranked O’Connell four times while giving him nothing on serve under a closed roof at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
O’Connell, who cleaned boats in Sydney to make ends meet, took a lengthy medical time-out to have a trainer work on a back strain at 4-1 in the second set.
The 26-year-old dug in admirably in the final set, forcing two break points from the Russian but Medvedev saved them and sealed the match with a big serve.
Medvedev next faces young American J.J. Wolf for a place in the last 16.
Earlier, Dominic Thiem celebrated his 27th birthday with a commanding 6-3 6-3 6-2 victory over India’s Sumit Nagal.
No.2 seed Thiem, seeking his maiden grand slam title, won an overwhelming 74 per cent of his first serve points and fired seven aces past the inexperienced Nagal, breaking him seven times in the two-hour contest.
On Tuesday Nagal became the first Indian in seven years to win a singles match at Flushing Meadows but the 23-year-old showed only flashes of brilliance in a one-sided clash at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Up next for Thiem, who was runner-up at the Australian Open this year, is 2014 champion Marin Cilic of Croatia who beat Slovakia’s Norbert Gombos 6-3 1-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-5.
Spanish eighth seed Roberto Bautista Agut survived a difficult second-round match against Serbian youngster Miomir Kecmanovic with a 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory.
Bautista Agut, who could potentially play Australia’s Alex de Minaur in the fourth round, squandered 14 break-point opportunities but held his nerve in crucial moments to seal victory in just over two-and-a-half hours.
Kecmanovic, making his second consecutive second-round appearance at Flushing Meadows, stepped up the pressure on Bautista Agut’s serve in the second set to force an unlikely break at 5-3 and he went on to level the match.
Bautista Agut looked largely untroubled over the next two sets, however, as he patiently carved out two breaks of serve to book a place in the third round for the first time in three years.
The world No.11 Bautista Agut has now won five of his six matches since the tour’s resumption after the COVID-19 shutdown, reaching the semi-finals at the Western & Southern Open last week where he pushed eventual champion Novak Djokovic to a final-set tiebreak.
He will next face Vasek Pospisil who beat fellow Canadian Milos Raonic 6-7 (7-1) 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.
