File photo of Dominic Thiem.
US Open champion Dominic Thiem has eased through the second round of the Australian Open with a 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 win over Donimik Koepfer of Germany. Meanwhile, Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka wasted a big lead in the fifth-set tiebreak — and three match points — before losing to Marton Fucsovics of Hungary in the second round, 7-5, 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, 7-6 (11-9).
The No. 3-ranked Thiem reached his maiden Grand Slam final here in Australia last year before losing to Novak Djokovic. He went one better at the U.S. Open by claiming his first major trophy.
He could face either mercurial Australian Nick Kyrgios or 29th-seeded Ugo Humbert in the third round.
Thiem said the win over Koepfer was his best so far since arriving in Australia “and there's a lot of good stuff to build on.”
He'll be tuning in to see who he faces next.
“Definitely going to watch it and looking forward to it," he said. “I’ll wait for (the winner) on Friday.”
Wawrinka, on the other hand, had won four of his eight previous five-setters at the Australian Open — and he nearly made it another. But five unforced errors in the last seven points of the tiebreaker cost him the match.
The three-time major winner had 73 unforced errors in total, including 43 on his normally reliable one-handed backhand.
Fucsovics has now survived two five-set matches in his first two rounds, spending more than eight hours on court. “I feel like I’m dying,” he said after beating Wawrinka. “I’m really tired.”
