Marcos Giron will aim to take the best bits of Tristan Schoolkate's performance against Jannik Sinner in Thursday's second round when he faces the Australian Open defending champion in Saturday's third-round match.
The Italian star looked flustered by the home player for the first hour before sealing a four-set success, and he takes on his American opponent fresh off a see-saw five-setter against Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
Match preview
© Imago
He might have come through sets three and four with relative comfort to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3, but Sinner was sweating for the opening hour of his second-round encounter with wild card Schoolkate, against whom he could not engineer a break point until the mid-point of set two.
The world No. 173's execution often discomfited the defending champion, who struggled to find his usual rhythm in the rallies against a player competing in his second Aussie Open match and fourth overall.
Having admitted to knowing little about the Australian, who took a set off Sinner on a hard court since Etcheverry managed likewise in Shanghai last October, the top seed will perhaps be pleased to face 31-year-old Giron in round three.
Regardless, the favourite to successfully defend his title will aim to avoid requiring another turnaround in consecutive rounds, keen to notch his 17th hard-court victory at the Majors since the start of 2024.
The leading player on the men's tour's 16 wins on the surface outdoes every competitor, and his nine consecutive wins Down Under see him emulate Novak Djokovic (between 2008 and 2009) as the youngest player to notch as many straight triumphs at Melbourne Park.
© Imago
Although Giron faces an uphill challenge in preventing Sinner's 10th consecutive victory in Australia, the 31-year-old has already surpassed expectations before facing the top seed.
The American player went into this year's tournament having never secured a victory at the opening Grand Slam of the year, only to clinch two successes against Yannick Hanfmann and Etcheverry.
The world No. 46 needed a turnaround to defeat his German opponent in his tournament opener and responded to being pegged back by his round-two opponent before taking the decider.
After a wretched 2024 at the Majors, underscored by three tournament-opening losses at the Aussie Open, French Open and US Open and a second-round loss at Wimbledon, the American player has matched his best performance at the Slams – he also reached the third round at the French Open in 2021 and 2023.
Now, the 31-year-old seeks the biggest victory of his career against the sport's current leading star, an outcome that is easier said than done.
Tournament so far
Jannik Sinner:
First round: vs. Nicolas Jarry 7-6[2] 7-6[5] 6-1
Second round: vs. Tristan Schoolkate 4-6 6-4 6-1 6-3
Marcos Giron:
First round: vs. Yannick Hanfmann 2-6 7-5 6-1 7-5
Second round: vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-5 3-6 7-5 3-6 6-4
Head To Head
Shanghai Masters (2023) - Round of 64: Sinner 7-6(7) 6-2
Sinner leads his head-to-head with Giron on the ATP Tour, notching a straight-set win at the 2023 Shanghai Masters.
Giron's 4-23 win-loss record against top-10 players underscores his incapability against elite opponents, and he enters this weekend's third round on a five-match losing run after defeats by Hubert Hurkacz (two), Alexander Zverev (two) and Alex de Minaur; the American's last top-10 victory was against Andrey Rublev on the grass courts of Halle in June 2024.
We say: Sinner to win in three sets
After facing a scare against Schoolkate, a repeat of the slow start that saw him drop the opening set is unlikely for Sinner.
The top seed is backed to get the job done in straight sets to secure his tenth straight victory Down Under.
