Alex de Minaur reaches Australian Open third round, Thanasi Kokkinakis loses to Stefanos Tsitsipas in tournament’s longest match

Thanasi Kokkinakis’s return to the major tennis scene has been ended by fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in a second-round five-setter that lasted more than four and a half hours, while compatriot Alex de Minaur rushed into the third round.

De Minaur, Australia’s top-ranked male player, beat Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 after Kokkinakis played out the longest match of the tournament so far.

On the comeback trail from repeated injuries and illness, the world number 267 scored his first Australian Open win since 2015 earlier this week, but fell to Tsitsipas in five sets — 6-7(5/7), 6-4, 6-1, 6-7(5/7), 6-4.