Australian Open, men, day 5: Federer, Tsitsipas, Dimitrov, Cilic, Nadal continue
Round three at the Australian Open 2019: Roger Federer had to start early, Rafael Nadal played the night session in the Rod Laver Arena against a local hero. All matches live on TV and stream at Eurosport and in our live ticker.
by tennisnet
last edit: Jan 18, 2019, 03:00 pm
Roger Federer (3 / Switzerland) - Taylor Fritz (USA) 6: 2, 7: 5, 6: 2
Roger Federer and Taylor Fritz had once played against each other in Melbourne before, in Stuttgart in 2016, when the Swiss had just prevailed. In the new edition against the American Federer, on the other hand, was inviolable: the matter only lasted 88 minutes, the defending champion did not allow a single breakball, now meets Stefanos Tsitsipas. Here is the match report.
Rafael Nadal (2 / Spain) - Alex de Minaur (27 / Australia) 6: 1, 6: 2, 6: 4
"Demon" fought hard, ran as hard as it could and fought off five match balls - but in the end there was an impressive victory of the world ranking second. "A great fighter, he's so fast - he's probably the fastest player on the tour," said "Rafa" afterwards. The 19-year-old Lleyton Hewitt's protégé earned four breakballs, but Nadal did not allow a break. In the end, the result was the same as the first time the two met at Wimbledon 2018. When asked by John McEnroe whether Nadal would reveal what de Minaur would have to do better next time, Nadal replied with a laugh: "No, I won't. " He now meets Tomas Berdych, who got off to a great start in 2019 after a long injury break. To the game report!
Stefanos Tsitsipas (14 / Greece) - Nikoloz Basilashvili (19 / Georgia) 6: 3, 3: 6, 7: 6 (7), 6: 4
He very much hoped that Taylor Fritz would win his match against Roger Federer. So said Stefanos Tsitsipas after his success against Basilashvili. This wish was not fulfilled. On the other hand, the Greek played extremely well against Federer at the Hopman Cup, losing in two short sentences. Against the Georgian, the tie-break of the third set turned out to be a sticking point. For Tsitsipas, it will be the first participation in a major round of 16.
Marin Cilic (6 / Croatia) - Fernando Verdasco (26 / Spain) 4: 6, 3: 6, 6: 1, 7: 6 (8), 6: 3
Last year's finalist with his back to the wall: Marin Cilic had to fend off two match balls in the fourth set, while Fernando Verdasco helped with a double mistake in the second. Cilic took the momentum into the decisive set and made an early break. In the seventh game Verdasco missed the big chance to make a comeback, could not use a 0:40 on serve Cilic in his favor. The 2014 US Open champion did not distribute any further invitations and was able to make his comeback victory perfect after a season of 4:18 hours.
Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) - Diego Schwartzman (18 / Argentina) 5: 7, 6: 3, 7: 5, 6: 4
Tomas Berdych's first set loss in the current tournament - which will not, however, grieve the Czechs any further: After his final move to the comeback tournament in Doha, Berdych is in the round of 16 of the Australian Open for the eleventh time. This is where the winner of the game between Rafael Nadal and Alex de Minaur comes together. At any rate, Berdych had a successful working day against Schwartzman, which took exactly three hours.
Grigor Dimitrov (20 / Bulgaria) - Tomas Fabbiano (Italy) 7: 6 (5), 6: 4, 6: 4
Is there something going for Grigor Dimitrov at the Australian Open 2019? In combination with new coach Andre Agassi, the Bulgarian is getting better and better in the tournament. With 13 aces, an 85 success rate on first serve and 37 winners, the former "Baby Fed" is in the round of 16 and meets Frances Tiafoe, who defeated Andreas Seppi in five sets.
Roberto Bautista Agut (22 / Spain) - Karen Khachanov (10 / Russia) 6: 4, 7: 5, 6: 4
Bautista Agut can do it well in three: after his five-set dramas against Andy Murray and John Millman, the Spaniard simply turns a 2-0 set lead this time into a three-set victory and now plays against last year's finalist Marin Cilic or Fernando Verdasco.