Hurkacz, Karatsev out in round two; Nishikori on a roll: Men’s singles, last 16 line-up at the Olympics

With the loss of Hubert Hurkacz (7) and Aslan Karatsev (11) in the second round on Tuesday, the men’s singles draw at the Olympic Games is as follows:

Djokovic (1) – Davidovich Fokina (16)
Ivashka – Nishikori
Zverev (4) – Basilashvili
Chardy – Broady
Schwartzman (8) – Khachanov (12)
Tsitsipas (3) – Humbert (14)
Carreño Busta (6) – Koepfer
Medvedev (2) – Fognini (14)

Briton Broady stuns Hurkacz as draw opens up

The draw had already opened up thanks to the defeats of Andrey Rublev (5), Félix Auger-Aliassime (9) and Gaël Monfils (10), offering big opportunities to players who are rarely seen at this level in Grand Slam or Masters 1000 tournaments.

This is certainly the case for Liam Broady, the 27-year-old ranked No 143, who only got into the Olympics at the last minute after fellow Briton Dan Evans pulled out having tested positive for Covid-19.

The left-hander produced the biggest win of his career as he ousted Hubert Hurkacz, a recent semi-finalist at Wimbledon and an excellent hard-court player, as he showed when winning the Masters 1000 title in Miami earlier this year.

Broady’s 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 win over the Pole sets up a winnable match against veteran Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, who is having the best season of his career on the tour, but who has been unhappy with his Grand Slam draws (Novak Djokovic in Melbourne and Stefanos Tsitsipas at Roland Garros).

Chardy dominated Aslan Karatsev for the second time in a month after his win over the Russian at Wimbledon and the winner of his match with Broady will play either No 4 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany or the big-hitting Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili.

The 27-year-old Ilya Ivashka of Belarus, ranked 66th, who beat Monfils in the first round, will face Kei Nishikori, who confirmed his first-round win over Rublev on Tuesday by defeating American Marcos Giron 7-6, 3-6, 6-1.

Nishikori one win away from Djokovic showdown

Nishikori is one win away from a likely quarter-final against world No 1 Novak Djokovic, who faces Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in round three.

On paper, the most attractive matches are Tsitsipas-Ugo Humbert, with the Frenchman having won their only match in an incredible battle last autumn at the Rolex Paris Masters, or the one between second seed Daniil Medvedev and Italian Fabio Fognini, two players with not always predictable temperaments.

Four countries have two medal chances: Russia (Medvedev, Karen Khachanov), Germany (Zverev, Dominik Koepfer), Spain (Pablo Carreño Busta, Davidovich Fokina) and France (Humbert, Chardy).