Roberto Bautista Agut slumped to a loss against 85th ranked Radu Albot in the first round of Australian Open 2021. Agut came into the match in good form after taking Spain to the ATP Cup semifinals in the absence of Rafael Nadal.

Meanwhile, 13th seed David Goffin was beaten by Alexei Popyrin in a tough five-setter. Goffin failed to convert four match points, and Popyrin ran the show afterward.

Tough first set for Roberto Bautista Agut

The first set was a mixed bag for Bautista Agut. On multiple occasions, it looked like Agut would run away with that game, but Albot hung in there. Albot was broken in the first game itself, but he broke back to level the set 3-3.

However, the seesaw continued as Bautista Agut broke back to lead 4-3, and Albot broke again to level the opening set at 4-4.

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In the end, the set went to the tiebreaker, where Bautista Agut used his experience and sealed the tiebreaker 7-1.

Bautista Agut bageled!

The second set went exactly the opposite of what everyone thought. Bautista Agut was ‘bageled’ by Albot and thrashed in the second set. Bautista Agut didn’t win a single point on his serve and overall just won three points in the whole set.

The set had a mammoth 14 unforced errors from the Spaniard, that changed the tide of the match.

A perfect third set for Radu Albot

Bautista Agut broke free of his consecutive service game losses and won the first game of the third set. Still, Batista Agut had trouble breaking Albot’s serve, and at 2-2, Albot broke Bautista Agut.

Bautista Agut never got a break-point and Albot raced to a 6-4 third set victory and 2-1 lead in the match.

Roberto Bautista Agut goes down in the fourth set

The fourth set saw a massive improvement from Bautista Agut, but he still failed to convert his chances. In the end, the set went into the tiebreaker where Albot was 6-2 ahead with four match points.

Bautista Agut tried a comeback but failed and Albot won 6-7, 6-0, 6-4, 7-6.

David Goffin fails to convert his chances

Goffin’s match against Popyrin was a roller coaster. Both the players were disciplined and played well. The first set went to Goffin 6-3 courtesy of two breaks. The second set though was tough for the Belgian, as he didn’t get a break-point and Popyrin took his break point chances to win the set 6-4.

The third set was similar to the second set, but the players broke each other and sent the set to the tiebreaker. Here Goffin used his experience and won the set to lead the match.

In the fourth set, Goffin looked set to win the match with two match points at 5-4. Popyrin hung on and broke Goffin to take the set to the tiebreaker.

In the tiebreaker, again, Goffin had two match points which he failed to convert, and Popyrin forced the match to the fifth set.

The fifth set looked like Popyrin’s for the taking, and he took it. The tide had turned and Popyrin completed his comeback with the fifth set 6-3.

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