Cacic/Molchanov upset top seeds Dodig/Krajicek at Australian Open

Peter Staples

Nikola Cacic and Denys Molchanov stunned top seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek 6-4, 6-7(8), 7-6(10-7) on Friday to reach the third round at the Australian Open.

Cacic and Molchanov recovered from squandering two match points in the second-set tie-break to eventually prevail in the Match Tie-break after two hours and 39 minutes of high drama.

Roland Garros champions Dodig and Krajicek fired 17 aces but struggled on return, winning just 33 per cent of second-serve return points and failing to convert any of their six break point opportunities.

In other action, defending champions Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler beat Laslo Djere and Christopher O’Connell 6-2, 6-4 to begin their title defence. The 2020 AO winners Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury reached the third round, moving past Daniel Altmaier and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela 6-2, 6-4.

Santiago Gonzalez and Neal Skupski, newly teaming this year, beat Francisco Cabral and Henry Patten 6-3, 6-4. Australians Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson downed Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler 6-2, 7-6(8).