Australian Open 2018 - Day 3 & 4

Day 3 about to get going. Nadal and Dimitrov both on Rod Laver Arena and neither should be troubled unduly by their respective opponents, Mayer and McDonald. Over on Margaret Court arena, Shapovalov is up against Tsonga, in a repeat of their US Open clash when the young Canadian beat the Frenchman - this time I'm picking Tsonga to get his revenge - the Davis Cup win will have done him a lot of good and I think he will play with more intensity - could go to 5 sets though and I wouldn't be surprised if Shapovalov wins again. Kyrgios up against Troicki, and this is the sort of match where the Aussie can come unstuck if he's in one of his petulant moods - however, he's looking pretty focused and ought to win in 4 sets.

Edmund is up against the talented but underachieving Istomin who shouldn't be underestimated, but nevertheless I'm picking Kyle to win in 4 sets. Couple of seeds may be in danger - Carreno Busta up against Simon who's rediscovered his form and is good on this surface, whilst Harrison could upset Cuevas.

Rafael Nadal powers through with a straight sets, but entertaining win over Leonardo Mayer. 6-3 6-4 7-6. Mayer tested Nadal especially in the third set. Nadal looking ominous...let so his attire

Another good win for Kyle Edmind and he will go into his Third Round match against world No 61 Kabashvili as favourite. Tsonga struggled but saw off Shapovalov in five sets.

Yes, well done Edmund on reaching 3rd round, great opportunity for him to reach 4th round now and make some real progress rising up the rankings. Tsonga got his revenge against Shapovalov and Harrison continued his good form with straight sets win.

Kyrgios appears to be closing in on straight sets victory over Troicki, whilst an unconvincing Dimitrov is in a spot of bother a set down against qualifier Mcdonald. McDonald has been playing some inspired tennis and has played the big points much better than Dimitrov. If Dimitrov doesn't raise his game we could be on for an upset here - early stages though, and McDonald may tighten as match goes on.

This demonstrates (to me) why Dimitrov is lacking when compared to modern day greats. He stumbles his way through games against far inferior opponents that others would crush.

Just when it looked like McDonald was going to run out of steam he produced couple of quality points, which, combined with a lapse or 2 from Dimitrov, saw him get the break and the qualifier is now serving to go 4-2 up in 3rd set.

Meanwhile, Rublev is closing in on victory against Baghdatis, 2 sets to 1 and 4-2 up.

Saw most of the Kyrgios match - was some very high quality play from both guys, interspersed with typical NK chuntering to the umpire (mainly about crowd noise during points).

I do enjoy watching Kyrgios when he's in form as he is one of the best shot makers on the tour.

Dimitrov 1 set all but an early break down in the 3rd. Agree with CC above - Dimitrov can be excellent against good players, but throws in too many 4/10 performances compared with the greats

Dimitrov v McDonald turned into a real dog-fight, gone to 5 sets (McDonald won 4th set 6-0!) with McDonald serving to stay in match at 5-4. Been a v entertaining match despite the dips in form, and whatever happens in this match from this point, McDonald looks capable of pushing up to top 50 based on this form.

CaledonianCraig wrote:This demonstrates (to me) why Dimitrov is lacking when compared to modern day greats. He stumbles his way through games against far inferior opponents that others would crush.

He needs to learn 'relentlessness' - that's a quality which separates multi-slam all-timers from the rest.

It's easy to see in Nadal, similarly so, if a tiny bit less raw at times, in Djoko.  Federer's relentlessness lurks with brooding intensity albeit fairly well-hidden under the carapace of his smoother and more effortless-looking demeanour.  Murray has it, but it is not the same thing as flaring up on yourself when you play badly, it's more controlled than that.  Stan gets it only in streaks which last weeks not months.  Del Boy acquired his in the course of 2009, but his injuries have robbed him of the raw materials he possessed in his youth to exploit it fully.  Cilic had it for a few days in 2014, maybe last summer, but he's too patchy. Dimitrov is a step below Cilic.

In the women's game Serena has it, so does Sharapova.

Relentlessness means you very very rarely rely upon your opponent to lose; you battle to find ways to win when your opponent has surprised you. As CC says, you are rarely detained by lesser players.

Of the current young ones I'd like to see Kyrgios get some of that stuff.

Dimi had a scare today but sometimes it's useful to have these sorts of matches early on. Gets you battle hardened.
   Best comeback of the day, arguably, was Caroline W fighting back from 1-5 down in the final set, and two MPs down, to win. I see Karlovic still going strong at 38 with a 12-10 final set win. 
   Kyrgios will be taking on Tsonga next. Great chance for Edmund to progress further.

Hi long time no see .. no I have not come to honour or to praise Rafa but to praise and pay tribute to Dr. Ivo. Karlovic . can you believe this man is nearly 39 years of age and is still competing in a Grand Slam.. no he doubtless will not win it,. but he is there competing at the top .. young guns take note.. He served in excess of 50 aces again today. I would pay tribute to this man who does not know how to give up Well done DR Ivo

Thiem seems to be playing on the 'wrong' surface - Clay (style) on Hard is a tough way to win points. Kudla hitting flat and hard has the right approach.

@H-n ... good to see ya.

Djokovic beats Monfils in four sets to continue his rehabilitation. Goffin in bother against Bennetteau. He will need to go the distance to win. Del Potro closing in on a straight sets win.

Hi haddie-nuff. Seems like role reversal for us now. Last time we spoke Murray was at top of the rankings and Rafa was struggling to re-establish himself after injury. Now their fortunes have been totally reversed.

Hi LF. thanks.
Yes CC Im sorry for Andy's injury problems.. seen so much of it with Rafa. Im sure your pessimistic but don't give up hope .. he has a lot of the Scottish fight left in him.. if there is a way back he will find it. The other three have proved that it can be done, Novak looks as though he is fighting back and in the heat (never was much good at that in the past). Rafa is back (how many times have we said that) and Federer is still going strong at 36..so Andy still has a chance of having another crack at it. Hang in there

Cheers Hn.

Stan Wawrinka crashes out in straight sets and looked like his knee was still troubling him.

I cannot believe the players are being made play in these conditions. Djokovic vs Monfils it was 38 degrees in the shade and Monfils understandably very unhappy about it.

Also a complete joke that for the second round running that Federer has got the night match on Rod Laver. Totally unfair on other players that he gets the advantage of more favourable conditions. How on earth could Federer vs Struff get top billing ahead of Djokovic vs Monfils?? I get that Federer is a big draw but surely when a result is pretty much inevitable you would go for a match that on paper has two top players

Fed thru in straights but Struff by all accounts played well and even led 3-1 in the third before Rog got it back on serve. Probably ideal match for Fed - a good contest but not a very long one.
   Stan was probably nowhere near match fit, while Djoko could be alarmed he served a whole lot of DFs, although at least he's through. Very surprised by Goffin's departure. Did he take a lot out of himself at the end of 2017?
   Horrible result for Konta and not much better for Muguruza. Wonder if anyone's brave enough to predict a winner among the women.

sirfredperry wrote:Fed thru in straights but Struff by all accounts played well and even led 3-1 in the third before Rog got it back on serve. Probably ideal match for Fed - a good contest but not a very long one.
   Stan was probably nowhere near match fit, while Djoko could be alarmed he served a whole lot of DFs, although at least he's through. Very surprised by Goffin's departure. Did he take a lot out of himself at the end of 2017?
   Horrible result for Konta and not much better for Muguruza. Wonder if anyone's brave enough to predict a winner among the women.

Kerber. Think she will win it.

G82. Kerber's got Sharapova next. Now, if she was to win that one....

I'd like to see Wozniacki pick up a slam at last; most of the heavyweights are on the other side of the draw from her, the main potential danger on her side is Svitolina.

Just watched some highlights of the Fed-Struff match. The big-serving German looked quite a handful and was happy to play serve-and-volley. Not a bad workout for Fed.

Don’t know what the exact the UE numbers were for Federer ....  but I suspect fairly high.

Struff put in an admirably strong effort, but it wasn’t enough to (seriously) trouble even a below-par Fed - who didn’t really look in the sort of form to retain his title, given how well other contenders are playing.  But that could change very quickly of course.

Djokovic v Monfils was a strange sort of match, influenced significantly by the oppressive conditions. However Novak does seem to have his game face very much ON ! He will be tough to stop - assuming of course he can maintain this level over the two weeks.

My one worry for Novak is his reply in his press conference when asked about his elbow. He said it was still not 100% but getting there. Srely, if not 100% then playing long tennis matches is not the way to get it up to 100% or am I missing something?

Lags72. Seem to remember Fed struggled a bit in the first two rounds at the AO last year before blitzing Berdych and going on to win the title. While I don't think he will have as good a year overall as last year, I reckon he's still going to be near the top.

I saw the Fed/Struff highlights and it looked like they played some decent points - Struff sure hits it hard.  With Fed I always look for the depth of his shots as an indicator of how things are, and on the highlight real at least they got deeper as the match wore on.

I'd say so far with Federer it's 'mission accomplished' to get to R3 with two decent but not extended workouts, 3.5hrs on court is OK.

sirfredperry wrote:G82. Kerber's got Sharapova next. Now, if she was to win that one....

I think she will win it. Seems to be back to near her best.