Melbourne, Australia, 15 January 2025 | Sean A'Hearn

Jordan Thompson has suffered a tough blow, with injury playing a part in his straight-sets exit to Portugal’s Nuno Borges in the AO 2025 second round.

Borges emerged a 6-4 6-2 6-3 winner after the Aussie hopeful and No.27 seed picked up an injury late in the third set.

MORE: Vukic breaks new ground, into Australian Open third round

Ajla Tomljanovic and James Duckworth also exited the tournament in round two, with Duckworth falling 6-4 6-2 7-5 to Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena.

Another Spaniard, Paula Badosa, proved too strong for emerging Aussie Talia Gibson late on Wednesday evening.

The resurgent Badosa, on the brink of the top 10 after being outside the top 100 in June, outclassed the 21-year-old West Australian for the loss of just one game at Margaret Court Arena.

Kokkinakis close, but exits

Meanwhile, in a late match on Wednesday, Thanasi Kokkinakis fell just short of another marathon victory at Australian Open 2025 in front of a packed crowd at John Cain Arena.

Kokkinakis lost 6-7(3) 6-3 3-6 7-5 6-3 to world No.18 Jack Draper in a gruelling four-hour, 35-minute battle to prevent a maiden third-round berth at Melbourne Park.

The world No.71 threatened to cause a boilover when he served for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set. However, costly errors from Kokkinakis, who received treatment earlier in the match on his right pectoral muscle, left the door ajar.

Draper broke back, and forced a deciding set where he scored another late break to seal proceedings.

Draper books a date with another Aussie in Aleksandar Vukic, who upset 22nd seed Sebastian Korda earlier on Wednesday.

Thompson bows out

Thompson, who led 4-3 when he tweaked his foot, conceded that Borg’s strong baseline game made him the better player for most of the match

 “It was fine until 4-3 but I was getting outplayed to be honest,” said the 30-year-old, who was vying to reach the third round in Melbourne for the first time.

“First serve percentage was really high from Nuno but not only that, where he was putting the serve. I found it really tough to make inroads on his serve today and his serve plus one was high level.”

Even when Thompson mixed things up with his all-court variety, Borges was rarely troubled on serve and looked in control for the whole match.

Adding to his disappointment, Thompson said his body was feeling as good as ever leading up to the injury.

“That was the best it’d felt since I’d been here,” he related. “Then I think it was the 15-30 point to bring up 15-40, to bring up two break points, that I did something to the other side.

“Before that was the best I’d felt, the best I’d moved. That was why it was most disappointing.”

Thompson had managed a calf injury entering the Australian Open. “Honestly, I’ve done everything I can. I take my recovery pretty seriously,” he related.

“I’m in the hyperbaric chamber, I’m doing ice baths, I’m doing rehab, I’m doing strength on everything in my body. This is a tough one because it’s an acute injury,” said Thompson, vowing not to return to the court until his injury heals.

“I don’t want to be on my feet until it’s back to 100 per cent.”

Battling Tomljanovic falls just short 

Ajla Tomljanovic battled hard but fell just short as No.12 seed Diana Shnaider claimed a 6-4 7-5 victory.

Hitting the second most winners on the WTA tour in 2024 – behind world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka – Shnaider is a powerful player and came out firing, putting Tomljanovic on the back foot early.

Shnaider also possesses craft in spades, the 20-year-old playing with experience and poise beyond her years.

Tomljanovic fired many winners of her own as she recovered from a 3-5 deficit in the second set, but it wasn’t quite enough as Schnaider closed out the match in 90 minutes.

Talia Gibson and James Duckworth also exited in the AO 2025 second round.

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