Australian Open, men, day 3: Federer and Nadal further, 67-aces man out
Day 3 at the Australian Open 2019: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are on, the battered Kevin Anderson is out. German-speaking men were not in use.
by tennisnet
last edit: Jan 18, 2019, 05:23 am
Roger Federer (3 / Switzerland) - Daniel Evans (Q / Great Britain) 7: 6 (5), 7: 6 (3), 6: 3
No Federer fireworks, but the Swiss was there at the important moments. Federer was already leading 5-3 in round two, but had to go into a tie break again. In set three, the defending champion turned up and set the course for victory early with a break to 3: 1. "It felt like I was playing against my reflection," said Federer afterwards. He has been unbeaten for 16 matches in Melbourne and will play Taylor Fritz on Friday. To the game report!
Taylor Fritz (USA) - Gael Monfils (30 / France) 6: 3, 6: 7 (8), 7: 6 (6), 7: 6 (5)
Nervous performance by youngster Taylor Fritz, who denied 12 of Monfils' 13 break chances and beat a total of 63 winners - including 22 aces. The reward: a meeting with Roger Federer in round three!
Rafael Nadal (2 / Spain) - Matthew Ebden (Australia) 6: 3, 6: 2, 6: 2
Matt Ebden struggled as best he could, but there was no getting away from the force of nature of the world number two. Especially since Nadal always neglected the small chances of the Australian - like the four break chances. 33 winners, 15 unforced mistakes and round three after almost two hours of play, said Nadals Flirt with the statistics. Now it's against youngster Alex de Minaur. To the game report!
Alex de Minaur (27 / Australia) - Henri Laaksonen (Q / Switzerland) 6: 4, 6: 2, 6: 7 (7), 4: 6, 6: 3
The Australian number 1 stays on and in the race! The day initially looked relaxed for the protégé of Lleyton Hewitt, in the tie break of set three he already had match point. But the Swiss Laaksonen held against and also equalized in set five, in which de Minaur led early with a break. In the end, the 19-year-old kept his nerve and can run against Rafael Nadal as a reward on Friday!
Frances Tiafoe (USA) - Kevin Anderson (5 / South Africa) 4: 6, 6: 4, 6: 4, 7: 5
The first big surprise in the men's field! Youngster Tiafoe, ranked 39th in the world, won against last year's Wimbledon finalist Anderson, who was handicapped by an elbow injury and took a break from treatment after set three. The South African made his last serve game with a double fault, Tiafoe kept his nerve and served despite his 15:40 victory to his biggest career win. Now it's against Andreas Seppi, who beat Jordan Thompson confidently in three sets. To the game report!
Marin Cilic (6 / Croatia) - Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 7: 5, 6: 7 (9), 6: 4, 6: 4
The previous year's finalist is still there - even if he had to stretch a little and stood on the court for 3 hours and 37 minutes. Cilic fired 25 aces, but surrendered three times. In round four, however, he was harmless. Cilic now meets Fernando Verdasco, who defeated Radu Albot 6: 1, 7: 6 (2), 6: 3.
Roberto Bautista Agut (22 / Spain) - John Millman (Australia) 6: 3, 6: 1, 3: 6, 6: 7 (6), 6: 4
Murray conqueror Bautista Agut did it almost like on Monday: 2-0 sets, let opponents get there again - and then finish. Millman, who surprised Roger Federer at the US Open last year, offered great fighting spirit in front of his home backdrop and fought off four match balls in a row in the tie-break from set four (Bautista Agut was 6-2 ahead here!). But the Spaniard stayed cool, broke to 3-2 in set five and ultimately brought that lead over the finish line. Opponents now: Karen Khachanov, who has been seeded at ten.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (14 / Greece) - Viktor Troicki (Serbia) 6: 3, 2: 6, 6: 2, 7: 5
Next four-set win for Tsitsipas after the Greek had already battled Matteo Berrettini in the first round. Again, Tsitsipas was sure to get fans' support on Court 3, the next match will be against Nikoloz Basilashvili. The Georgian had to go over five sets against the qualifier Stefano Travaglia.
Grigor Dimitrov (20 / Bulgaria) - Pablo Cuevas (Uruguay) 6: 3, 6: 7 (5), 6: 3, 7: 5
The semi-finalist from 2017 is in round three: Dimitrov had to fight hard, only used three of his eleven break chances - but in return fended off all three opportunities of his opponent, also thanks to an 82 percent win rate when the first service came. Opponents in round three: the Italian Thomas Fabbiano.
Thomas Fabbiano (Italy) - Reilly Opelka (USA) 6: 7 (15), 6: 2, 6: 4, 3: 6, 7: 6 (5)
67 aces (!) Hammered the 2.13-meter man Opelka on the opposite side and even terrified the ace king Ivo Karlovic. In the end, however, Fabbiano (only 2 aces) won, who ended up having better nerves in the match tie-break. Round three is already the best performance for the 29-year-old in Melbourne, now it's against Grigor Dimitrov.
Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) - Robin Haase (Netherlands) 6: 1, 6: 3, 6: 3
Impressive performance by Tomas Berdych, who had already won the final of the ATP Tour 250 tournament there when he returned two weeks ago in Doha. In round one, the Czech defeated Kyle Edmund, one of the four semi-finalists from 2018. Berdych now faces 18-placed Diego Schwartzman, who had to go through five sets against Denis Kudla and was already 1-4 in the deciding round, but then won five games in a row to win the match.