{"id":361291,"date":"2024-01-20T05:16:35","date_gmt":"2024-01-20T06:16:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=361291"},"modified":"2024-01-20T08:02:13","modified_gmt":"2024-01-20T08:02:13","slug":"american-blows-match-points-before-epic-meltdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=361291","title":{"rendered":"American blows match points before epic meltdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

T\ufeffommy Paul<\/a> has been sensationally eliminated from the Australian Open<\/a>, failing to close out two match points against Miomir Kecmanovic in the third round.<\/p>\n

After claiming the second and third sets, the American<\/a> had the opportunity to get the job done in a fourth-set tie-breaker, but fell short and was completely dominated in the decider, culminating in a 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6, 6-0<\/a> victory for the Serbian qualifier.<\/p>\n

During the fifth set, Paul was seen smashing his racquet on a chair, visibly showing his frustration with his dwindling display. \ufeffPost-match Paul gave the racquet to a crowd member<\/a>.<\/p>\n

LIVE COVERAGE:<\/strong> Australian Open 2024, day seven updates\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Great's warning for de Minaur's next opponent\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Ukraine star's defiant message to Russian rivals\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

"A staggering turn of events here," commentator David Culbert said on Nine's coverage during the fifth set.<\/p>\n

It's a surprising result for the 14th seed, who had looked solid earlier in the tournament\ufeff, but it appears he may have been struggling with a leg injury late in the match, with the final set finishing in less than 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kecmanovic is now through to the fourth round of a grand slam for just the second time in his professional career, with his prior best result coming in the 2022 Australian Open.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 Australian Open live and exclusive on Nine,<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a> and ad-free on<\/strong><\/em> Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking in a post-match interview, the 24-year-old was quizzed on how he came back from a seemingly unwinnable situation to advance.<\/p>\n

"Honestly, I have no idea," Kecmanovic said to laughs from the crowd.<\/p>\n

"It was supposed to be my day today I guess and I had a bit more luck in the end. I played some fantastic tennis and I'm happy to be into the fourth round again.<\/p>\n

"It feels like home, there are so many Serbian people here. It feels good to be here – I'm always happy when I come to Melbourne."<\/p>\n

Kecmanovic is now headed towards a showdown with title contender and world No.2 Carlos Alcaraz – but don't expect him to rush back to watch a replay of the Spaniard's third round match.<\/p>\n

"I think the coach can take this one," he said.<\/p>\n

"I just did four hours … he has to do something now."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

T\ufeffommy Paul has been sensationally eliminated from the Australian Open, failing to close out two match points against Miomir Kecmanovic in the third round. After […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":361293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361291"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=361291"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":361294,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361291\/revisions\/361294"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/361293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=361291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=361291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=361291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}