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Australian Jordan Thompson will be full of confidence after a five-set first round victory at the US Open, and with the draw opening up nicely, he will be keen for an easy progression against Thomas Fabbiano. Join The Roar for live scores from around 7am (AEST).
Thompson came out of the gates strongly in the first round against the 13th seed, American Jack Sock. The Australian took the first set in convincing fashion 6-2, before hanging tough to win a second set tie-breaker 14-12.
He had to save multiple set points and fight hard against Sock, using his court movement and pace to run the American ragged. Sock bounced back though, winning the next two sets 6-1, 5-7 to take it to a fifth set.
Thompson then found himself up a break, down a break and then fighting back again to win 6-4, recording what could be the best win of his career so far. A five-set grand slam win against a seeded player on home court is nothing to be sneezed at.
The draw has now opened up to the extent that he plays Fabbiano, then possibly Gilles Muller and Alexander Zverev. Both of those players are seeded, but Muller is a big server – and Thompson handles those players well – then Zverev is youthful and who knows at what point he will crack under the weight of expectation.
The Australian is only 23 himself, but he has had some big moments this year, including in Davis Cup and they should set him up nicely for big matches. A run to the fourth round or quarter-finals, at this point, is not unimaginable.
Fabbiano, ranked 82 in the world and seen as a hard court specialist had a strong first round result against another Australian in John-Patrick Smith.
Coming into the tournament with some ordinary form, including first round exits in Washington, Atlanta, Montreal and Winston-Salem, as well as the second round in Cincinnati had him scratching his head and wondering where the next win was coming from.
Facing Smith in the first round, both players had their opportunities and it would be hard to say that Fabbiano played a good match, but he advanced in four sets.
After winning the first two, he went right off the boil as Smith won the third, before the Italian wrapped it up in a 7-4 tie-breaker.
The pair have played on three previous occasions, with Fabbiano leading the ledger 2-1. However, they haven’t met on a hard court in the last year.
Prediction
Thompson is on a roll after defeating Sock in the first round, and Fabbiano won’t pose much of a problem here.
Thompson in four sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live scores of this second round match from around 7am (AEST) or at the completion of Vincent Millot versus Santiago Giraldo on Court 16 and don’t forget to add a comment below.