Thompson's Open hopes in doubt with leg injury

Giant-slaying Jordan Thompson's hopes of competing in the Australian Open are in doubt after he hobbled through a second-round loss to Italian Lorenzo Musetti at the Adelaide International.

Thompson, who captured the nation's imagination last week by sensationally saving three match points to stun the great Rafael Nadal in Brisbane, aggravated an upper left leg injury in his 6-4 6-1 defeat to fourth seed Musetti on Wednesday.

After not winning a point on either Musetti's first or second serves in the opening set, Thompson took a medical time-out before becoming further incapacitated in the second set.

Musetti's quarter-final opponent will be eighth seed Alexander Bublik, who mowed down Briton Daniel Evans 4-6 6-2 6-1.

It was a mixed Wednesday at Memorial Drive for the Aussies, with Sydney wildcard Christopher O'Connell marching into the quarter-finals, but South Australian Alex Bolt's dreams of a home fairytale denied by top seed Tommy Paul.

O'Connell hardly broke sweat in trouncing Alexander Shevchenko 6-3 6-1 to book a date with third seed Sebastian Korda in the final eight.

Sydney wildcard Christopher O'Connell
Sydney wildcard Christopher O'Connell has marched into the Adelaide International quarter-finals.

The Australian, who temporarily retired from the sport to clean boats in 2018 following a spate of injuries, whizzed 12 aces past his Russian opponent and didn't face a break point.

Bolt, a quarter-finalist at Adelaide in 2020 and cheered on by a parochial home crowd, was unable to follow O'Connell's lead, thoroughly outclassed by world No.13 Paul 6-3 6-2.

"I couldn't have asked for a better match," said Paul, who will play Britain's Jack Draper for a berth in the semi-finals.

"I thought I played a really clean match. I'm really excited to get the season started. I'm excited to be back out here."

Draper, who beat Paul in last year's Adelaide International, advanced after surviving a drama-filled 5-7 7-6 (11-9) 7-6 (9-7) marathon against Serb Miomir Kecmanovic.

The Brit saved two match points in the second set before overcoming a 2-5 deficit in the third-set tiebreak to prevail in three hours, 39 minutes.

Play was halted for several minutes during the deciding set when Kecmanovic refused to play until a supervisor was called out.

He was irate at being denied a medical time-out while also being on the wrong end of a controversial call, with the umpire ruling a ball that got stuck in the net tape in Draper's favour to put the Englishman up 6-5.

Earlier, second seed Nicolas Jarry saved a match point in his tense 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 victory over Italian Matteo Arnaldi.

Jarry, who also came back from match points down against the same opponent last season in Beijing, fell behind 6-7 in the breaker with two Arnaldi serves to come, before the big Chilean rattled off the next three points and maintained that high level in the third.

Korda advanced with a hard-fought 6-4 7-6 (12-10) win against Italy's Lorenzo Sonego.

License this article

What is AAPNews?

For the first time, Australian Associated Press is delivering news straight to the consumer.

No ads. No spin. News straight-up.

Not only do you get to enjoy high-quality news delivered straight to your desktop or device, you do so in the knowledge you are supporting media diversity in Australia.

AAP Is Australia’s only independent newswire service, free from political and commercial influence, producing fact-based public interest journalism across a range of topics including politics, courts, sport, finance and entertainment.

What is AAPNews?
The Morning Wire

Wake up to AAPNews’ morning news bulletin delivered straight to your inbox or mobile device, bringing you up to speed with all that has happened overnight at home and abroad, as well as setting you up what the day has in store.

AAPNews Morning Wire
AAPNews Breaking News
Breaking News

Be the first to know when major breaking news happens.


Notifications will be sent to your device whenever a big story breaks, ensuring you are never in the dark when the talking points happen.

Focused Content

Enjoy the best of AAP’s specialised Topics in Focus. AAP has reporters dedicated to bringing you hard news and feature content across a range of specialised topics including Environment, Agriculture, Future Economies, Arts and Refugee Issues.

AAPNews Focussed Content
Subscription Plans

Choose the plan that best fits your needs. AAPNews offers two basic subscriptions, all billed monthly.

Once you sign up, you will have seven days to test out the service before being billed.

AAPNews Full Access Plan
Full Access
AU$10
  • Enjoy all that AAPNews has to offer
  • Access to breaking news notifications and bulletins
  • Includes access to all AAPNews’ specialised topics
Join Now
AAPNews Student Access Plan
Student Access
AU$5
  • Gain access via a verified student email account
  • Enjoy all the benefits of the ‘Full Access’ plan at a reduced rate
  • Subscription renews each month
Join Now
AAPNews Annual Access Plan
Annual Access
AU$99
  • All the benefits of the 'Full Access' subscription at a discounted rate
  • Subscription automatically renews after 12 months
Join Now

AAPNews also offers enterprise deals for businesses so you can provide an AAPNews account for your team, organisation or customers. Click here to contact AAP to sign-up your business today.

SEVEN DAYS FREE
Download the app
Download AAPNews on the App StoreDownload AAPNews on the Google Play Store