Things are hotting up nicely in this year’s tournament with some incredible tennis being offered up in the first week of 2013’s primary slam. Neatly, there are no star outright star performers leading all and sundry to confidently predict the victor outright. There’s the Big 3 of course in the men’s game, but plenty of the ‘second tier’ players are showing the skills and the shots that should scare the triumvirate good and proper. Tomorrow’s first night session match-up between potty mouth duo FedEx and Atomic is just one such example, with the Australian of course nowhere near the level of Ferrer, Berdych et al. intriguing stuff.
You could argue that Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams are the clear favourites, but the Azarenkas, Radwanskas and other dark mares always lurk in the draw somewhere, and more often than not in Melbourne. Angelique Kerber, Li Na and perhaps even a resurgent Ana Ivanovic (all won convincingly today) could trouble the established pace-setters, but with this bunch you never can be sure!
Day 5 Hero – David Ferrer
Marcos Baghdatis is no slouch at the best of times, even when the Cypriot plays a bad match there are flashes of brilliance or spells of magic that can both bedazzle and deflate an opponent. Not the unflappable Ferrer however who swatted Baggy making him look like a journeyman that his ranking may suggest but talent always rubbishes. Once again the Spaniard will be there in the final rounds.
Day 5 Zero – Venus Williams
This is rather harsh I know, and with everything that has happened to Venus her comeback to the Top 30 has been nothing short of inspirational, indeed her battle with Sugarpova deserved to be referred to as ‘heavyweight’. But the former champ didn’t play a good match despite some considerable chances to make in-roads. Too many UE’s at the end of it all, but at least she took some games off of the Russian who continues to look formidable.
Day 5 – Marathon Match – Kevin Anderson defeated Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2
In what was also the Shock of the Day, South African Anderson outlasted the 22nd seed in a grueling encounter, this was special as Verdasco was more than in-form this week.
Elsewhere….
Men’s Third Round Scores: Day 5
Novak Djokovic (1) defeated Radek Stepanek (31); 6-4, 6-3, 7-5
David Ferrer (4) defeated Marcos Baghdatis (28); 6-4, 6-2, 6-3
Tomas Berdych (5) defeated Jurgen Melzer (26); 6-3, 6-2, 6-2
Janko Tipsarevic (8) defeated Julien Benneteau (32); 3-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
Nicolas Almagro (10) defeated Jerzy Janowicz (24); 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4), 6-1
Stanislas Wawrinka (15) defeated Sam Querrey (20); 7-6 (8-6), 7-5, 6-4
Kei Nishikori (16) defeated Evgeny Donskoy; 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 6-3
Kevin Anderson defeated Fernando Verdasco (22); 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2
Women’s Third Round Scores: Day 5
Maria Sharapova (2) defeated Venus Williams (25); 6-1, 6-3
Agnieszka Radwanska (4) defeated Heather Watson; 6-3, 6-1
Angelique Kerber (5) defeated Madison Keys; 6-2, 7-5
Li Na (6) defeated Sorana Cirstea (27); 6-4, 6-1
Ekaterina Makarova (19) defeated Marion Bartoli (11); 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-4
Ana Ivanovic (13) defeated Jelena Jankovic (22); 7-5, 6-3
Julia Goerges (18) defeated Zheng Jie; 6-3, 1-6, 7-5
Kirsten Flipkens defeated Valeria Savinykh; 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
All Things Tennis 