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Australian Open 2017: Angelique Kerber makes third round

  • Posted: Jan 18, 2017
Australian Open 2017
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne Dates: 16-29 Jan
Coverage: Daily live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra; live text on selected matches on the BBC Sport website.

Defending champion Angelique Kerber survived an onslaught from fellow German Carina Witthoeft to advance to the Australian Open third round.

Kerber – top seed at a Grand Slam for the first time – struggled with her serve in a second-set tie-break before prevailing 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-2.

The top seed, who was 29 on Wednesday, faces Czech Kristyna Pliskova next.

Venus Williams advanced 6-3 6-2 against Swiss qualifier Stefanie Voegele to reach the third round for a 13th time.

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Venus still going strong at 36

Williams, who played her first Australian Open in 1998, is the oldest woman in the singles draw at 36 and is competing in her 73rd Grand Slam.

“I have to talk about my age every interview!” the American said. “I’ve played some of the greats.”

“It’s an honour and privilege to start that young, and play this old.”

She later pulled out of the doubles competition with her sister Serena as a precaution to rest a sore elbow.

The 17th seed has never won the title, with her best result coming in 2003 when she was runner-up to Serena.

She will next play Duan Yingying after the Chinese player beat Varvara Lepchenko 6-1 3-6 10-8.

‘Pressure is a privilege’

World number one Kerber has started the year in less-than-convincing style, going out in the last eight in Brisbane and the second round in Sydney.

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And Witthoeft, 21, posed a far more serious challenge in this meeting than in the 6-0 6-0 defeat she suffered against her compatriot at Wimbledon 2015.

After a frustrated Kerber coughed up successive double faults in the tie-break, Witthoeft’s powerful groundstrokes took the opening game of the decider against serve.

But Kerber won the next four to regain control and avoid an upset.

“To have this pressure is a privilege. It’s completely new for me, but I’m doing well. I’m just trying to enjoy it,” she said.

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Murray set for 'big-hitting' Rublev on Wednesday

  • Posted: Jan 17, 2017
Australian Open 2017
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne Dates: 16-29 Jan
Coverage: Daily live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra; live text on selected matches on the BBC Sport website; TV highlights on BBC Two and online from 21 January.

World number one Andy Murray has admitted he does not know much about his Australian Open second round opponent Andrey Rublev.

Murray will face the 19-year-old Russian, ranked 152nd in the world, on Wednesday from 09:30 GMT.

Fellow Briton Dan Evans will also be in action in Melbourne, against seventh seed Marin Cilic.

“I’ve never hit with him or played against him, but I’ve seen him play and he goes for it,” Murray said.

“I know a little bit about him and he doesn’t hold back. He hits a big ball.”

  • Order of play – who plays when?
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Rublev is appearing in his second Grand Slam – he was knocked out in the first round of the US Open in 2015.

“I’m so excited, I have nothing to lose. He’s the best tennis player at the moment. So I will just try to take a great experience from this,” he said.

Murray was left frustrated after his first round victory over Illya Marchenko, taking two hours and 48 minutes to register a three-set win.

“I have had a lot of tough losses here, for sure,” said Murray, who has been beaten in the final in Melbourne five times in seven years.

“I have played some of my best tennis on hard courts here. But I keep coming back to try. I’ll keep doing that until I’m done.”

Elsewhere, Roger Federer faces American Noah Rubin from 04:00, while fourth seed Stan Wawrinka will play Rubin’s compatriot Steve Johnson.

World number one Angelique Kerber plays Germany’s Carina Witthoeft, while Serena and Venus Williams appear in the first round of the doubles, playing Hungary’s Timea Babos and Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Analysis

Great Britain’s Davis Cup captain Leon Smith

We’ll learn a lot more about Rublev in this match. He is a big-hitting player who goes after the shots and plays high-octane tennis.

It’ll be good to see what this young man can bring but it’s a very tough ask for someone of that age against Andy.

It’s an environment that Andy really enjoys. You would expect him to get the job done, but he will study him and won’t take anything for granted.

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Nadal Blasts Past Mayer In Melbourne

  • Posted: Jan 17, 2017

Nadal Blasts Past Mayer In Melbourne

Jan172017

Spaniard will meet Baghdatis in round two

Rafael Nadal did his best to erase the memory of his 2016 first-round loss in Melbourne on Tuesday, dominating Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in just over two hours in Rod Laver Arena. The Spaniard landed 70 per cent of his first serves and ripped 39 winners against the 33-year-old Mayer, who was playing at Melbourne Park for the first time in three years.

Nadal fell to countryman Fernando Verdasco a year ago, the victim of an all-out attack from Verdasco, who hit 90 winners in the win. But Tuesday’s match was never in question for the 30-year-old Mallorca native. Nadal earned a break in each set, including at 4-4 in the third set, and converted his first match point with a forehand winner.

Nadal will next face Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, who advanced to the second round when Russian Mikhail Youzhny retired down 6-3, 3-0. Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 8-1.

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Rafael Nadal and Milos Raonic through at Australian Open 2017

  • Posted: Jan 17, 2017
Australian Open 2017
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne Dates: 16-29 Jan
Coverage: Daily live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra; live text on selected matches on the BBC Sport website; TV highlights on BBC Two and online from 21 January.

World number nine Rafael Nadal produced a commanding display to reach the second round of the Australian Open.

The injury-hit Spaniard, who last won a Grand Slam in 2014 and lost in the first round last year, beat Germany’s Florian Mayer 6-3 6-4 6-4 in Melbourne.

Nadal, seeking to win a 15th Grand Slam title, dominated from the start and will now play Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.

“Today was a good first round for me,” said Nadal, 30. “Florian is a tough first player to play against.”

Nadal is attempting to win his second Australian Open after beating Roger Federer in the 2009 final.

A wrist injury plagued the Spanish left-hander after the French Open last year, and he missed Wimbledon, but he has a new coach in Carlos Moya and says he is fit and healthy.

“I was healthy enough to practise the way I wanted to practise, so that’s important for me,” Nadal added.

“I’ve had a longer period of time here in Australia, it was great experience and I was able to play in Brisbane.”

Third seed Milos Raonic went through with a comfortable 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory over Germany’s Dustin Brown.

The 26-year-old Canadian, a semi-finalist last year, hit 18 aces and 46 winners, and will next face either Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller or American Taylor Fritz.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic, the second seed, started his campaign against Fernando Verdasco of Spain at 08:00 GMT.

You can follow the match live on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and the BBC Sport website.

  • Live scores, results and order of play

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