By Nick Mulvenney
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – French wildcard Arthur Cazaux reached the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday and warned his future opponents that whatever else happens in their matches, they will know they have been in a fight.
The 21-year-old, ranked 122nd in the world coming into the tournament, rode his powerful serve to a 6-3 6-3 6-1 thrashing of Tallon Griekspoor in the third round, adding the Dutchman to a list of victims already featuring Laslo Djere and Holger Rune.
It is Cazaux’s debut at Melbourne Park — he was not ranked high enough to get into qualifying last year — and he became the first wildcard since Denis Istomin in 2017 to get into the second week.
Having played the likes of Rune, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Arthur Fils as a junior, Cazaux said he does not feel any pressure on court.
“I’m ready to fight everyone. I’m ready to fight in every match,” he said.
“I’m here to give everything on court. Sometimes I play bad, sometimes I play good. It doesn’t matter. The only important thing is to give everything on court. That’s my rules.”
Cazaux does not look like he is feeling any pressure as he struts around the court, his white baseball cap on backwards and a diamond earring in each ear.
He attributes his rocket of a serve, which earned him 18 aces in the second round against eighth seed Rune and another 14 in his shorter match against Griekspoor, to playing handball.
“I always had a good shoulder because I played handball for many years,” he added.
“I did seven years of handball in a good team, so during all of my childhood, I shot every day.
“It’s always been a big strength on my game. I know I can improve on my serve, but it’s a big strength, yes.”
He will face another big-server in Polish ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz in the fourth round as he looks to become the first wildcard to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals since Czech Tomas Smid in 1983.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
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