Nikoloz Basilashvili in Australian Open Round 2 after winning start
Tweet 
Share
Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili is through to the second round of Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year, after defeating Austria’s Gerald Melzer in Melbourne earlier on Monday.
Basilashvili earned the right to compete in Round 2 after edging past Melzer after a two-hour, 19-minute game that ended 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in the favour of the Georgian.
Ranked as World No. 61 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), Basilashvili faced World No. 102 Melzer on Court 5 of the first major tournament of 2018.
The 25-year old Georgian has reached Round 2 of the year’s first Grand Slam tournament for the first time. Photo: Nikoloz Basilashvili athlete Facebook page.
Scoring 75 percent of his first serve as opposed to Melzer’s 63, the 25-year old emerged ahead in most statistics of the match.
The Tbilisi-born player will now proceed to face Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans, ranked World No. 117, in Round 2 set to be played on Wednesday.
Round 2 is the furthest Basilashvili has advanced in the Australian Open, with the Georgian defeated in the first match by Roger Federer in 2016 and Philipp Kohlschreiber in 2017.
In other Grand Slam tournaments the Georgian has reached Round 3 of the French Open and Wimbledon, while his performance at US Open also peaked at Round 1 in 2015 and 2017.
Georgia's leading tennis player Nikoloz Basilashvili will face World No 13 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in semifinal of the ATP Open Lyon after defeating Argentina's Nicolas Kicker in the tournament earlier today.
Georgia and Lithuania are tied in their contest to advance to the final round of the Davis Cup tennis tournament after scoring a win each in the opening rounds of the fixture today in Tbilisi.
Georgia's leading tennis player Nikoloz Basilashvili played a sensational match at a prestigious tennis tournament in Austria, defeating world number 10 Thomas Berdych on Monday.
Georgian tennis player Nikoloz Basilashvili will face 17-time Grand Slam title winner Roger Federer in the first round of the Australian Open that kicks off next week in Melbourne.
Georgia’s Australian Open hopefuls Nikoloz Basilashvili and Oksana Kalashnikova continue to compete for honours at the Grand Slam tournament following victories in singles and doubles fixtures on Wednesday.
Georgia’s leading tennis player Nikoloz Basilashvili has been praised for his performance in the US Open round of Last 16 by the World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, following their three hour, 20 minute match in New York on Sunday.
Georgian tennis player Nikoloz Basilashvili has beaten the world number four and top seed Juan Martin del Potro in the men’s final of China Open in Beijing today.
Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili has reached quarterfinals of the ongoing Dubai Tennis Championships after defeating world no. 18 Roberto Bautista Agut on Wednesday.
Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili has marked a new high in his playing career after reaching the world no. 18 spot in the Association of Tennis Professionals ranking last weekend.
Nikoloz Basilashvili has made tennis history for Georgia by becoming the country’s first player to claim an ATP World Tour title on Sunday.