Christopher O’Connell of Sydney, Australia has become the third Australian tennis player at the 2022 Australian Open to upset a seeded player in singles action. On Thursday in the second round, O’Connell upset the 13th seed Argentinian, Diego Schwartzman, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4.
He follows Aleksandar Vukic of Sydney, who beat the 30th ranked Lloyd Harris of South Africa, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 in round one on Monday in men’s action, and Maddison Inglis of Perth, who beat the 23rd ranked Leylah Annie Fernandez of Canada, the reigning United States Open finalist, 6-4, 6-2 in round one on Tuesday in women’s action.
On Thursday, O’Connell had the more effective serve. He had seven aces compared to three double faults, while Schwartzman had only four aces compared to seven double faults. O’Connell also had 17 more winners than Schwartzman, as he had 44, compared to only 27 for the 5’7″ native of Buenos Aires.
Heading into the 2022 Australian Open, O’Connell was seeded 175th in the world, and only had a career singles record of seven wins and 15 losses. His most notable win came in the second round of the 2021 Atlanta Open, where he beat rising Italian star Jannik Sinner, 7-6, 6-4.
O’Connell’s first career singles win at a major came at the 2020 U.S. Open, where he beat 2019 Brazilian Open champion Laslo Djere of Serbia, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, 6-4. In addition to beating Schwartzman in Melbourne this week, O’Connell also beat Hugo Gaston of France in the first round, 7-6, 6-0, 4-6, 6-1, and will next face rising American Maxime Ceressy in round three. Cressy had an upset himself in Melbourne this week as he beat 2018 Wimbledon semifinalist and world number 22, John Isner of the United States, 7-6, 7-5, 6-7, 6-7, 6-4.
