Jordan Thompson, ranked 27th, began his Australian Open campaign with a promising victory over Dominic Koepfer in the first round, mirroring his 2024 performance. However, his hopes were dashed by a serious injury in the second round. Nuno Borges, the 33rd ranked Portuguese player, comfortably dispatched Thompson in straight sets. Despite this setback, Thompson received words of support from his fellow Australian, Nick Kyrgios.

Against Borges, he couldn’t pose a challenge. The 30-year-old failed to make a comeback and lost in straights sets, 3-6, 2-6, 4-6. Borges’ victory, however, was also a result of Thompson’s unbearable foot injury. It kept bothering him in the third set and by the end of it; he wasn’t able to walk properly. This early exit echoes last year’s second-round defeat against Stefanos Tsitsipas, marking a disappointing end to Thompson’s 2025 Australian Open campaign.

Following Thompson’s second round defeat, his compatriot Nick Kyrgios took to X and wrote:

After the match, Thompson expressed how much pain he was going through in the third set. “I was coming back, but I had a chance there,” he said, as reported by The Guardian on Wednesday. “I barely won a point after the foot. I was getting outplayed before that anyway, but it’s disappointing because I did have a chance there,” he added.

Jordan Thompson made it clear that his defeat had a lot to do with his injury. Thompson acknowledged that the injury was a persistent distraction throughout his first-round victory. The 30-year-old was managing it with the help of injections for quite a long time.

However, he will now have to let it heal completely before stepping on the court. “That’s the most disappointing part,” he said. “If he had have beaten me … and I walk away with a healthy body, I’d be happier.” he reflected on the match result. Even Nuno Borges acknowledged this sentiment.

Well, after a promising beginning with three Australians seeded for the first time in 20 years, only Alex de Minaur remains by Wednesday afternoon. Alexei Popyrin, seeded 25th, succumbed to Corentin Moutet in four sets, hampered by illness and lingering injuries.

Inclement weather has disrupted play today, with rain delays impacting the schedule. Five more Australian players are yet to finish their matches, including the highly anticipated evening clash between Thanasi Kokkinakis and Jack Draper on John Cain Arena.

Meanwhile, Thompson’s winning rival had nothing but sympathy for Thompson after the contest was over.

Jordan Thompson’s opponent Nuno Borges admires him while extending sympathy

According to him, the Aussie was great on the court, until the injury made things difficult for him. “Jordan was playing amazing. I’m really sorry for finishing it this way, and I’m sure he was struggling throughout the match,” he said. But now that he’s into the third round, Borges is happy with his ongoing campaign.

The last slam he played prior to the Australian Open also saw him making a deep run. Back in September, at the US Open, Borges managed to reach the fourth round. In Melbourne last year, Thompson managed to reach the fourth round, his highest run in AO till date. But he was defeated at the hands of Daniil Medvedev. Now he’s on the verge of repeating that performance down under.

“It is the ‘happy slam’ for me, for sure,” he said.“It was for sure a breakthrough for me to play that well here (last year), and play best-of-five sets and learning how to deal with all this.” he concluded.

In his next match-up, on Friday, Borges will be up against former World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz. The latter won his second round encounter on Wednesday, with a scoreline of 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka. Can he pull this one against the 2-time slam winner?