British tennis number two Dan Evans says he took strength from a hostile Australian Open crowd to beat home-favourite Bernard Tomic in straight sets.
| 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. |
Roger Federer eased past 10th seed Tomas Berdych to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open.
The 35-year-old former world number one came into the tournament seeded 17th after six months out through injury.
But the Swiss was in destructive form against Czech Berdych and needed only one hour 32 minutes to win 6-2 6-4 6-4.
Federer will now face world number five Kei Nishikori, with the winner of that match potentially meeting Andy Murray in the quarter-finals.
World number one and five-time Melbourne finalist Murray beat Sam Querrey 6-4 6-2 6-4 earlier on Friday and will face Germany’s Mischa Zverev in the fourth round.
Nishikori progressed with a 6-4 6-4 6-4 win against Lukas Lacko from Slovakia.
Former Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka, the reigning US Open champion, also reached the last 16 with a 3-6 6-2 6-2 7-6 (9-7) victory over Serbia’s Viktor Troicki.
The Swiss, a potential semi-final opponent for Murray, will play Andreas Seppi next after the Italian beat Belgian Steve Darcis 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-2).
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Federer had only dropped one set in his victories over Jurgen Melzer and Noah Rubin, but Berdych was considered his first real test since his return from a knee injury.
However, the 17-time Grand Slam winner looked back to his best and never faced a break point in the Rod Laver Arena.
He took 27 minutes to win the first set, in which Berdych could only land 41% of his first serves, and hit a total of 40 winners on his way to victory.
“I didn’t expect it to go this well,” said Federer. “I am happy it went as well as it did, happy to continue my run here even though I struggled in the early rounds. Today was great and I surprised myself.”
When asked how he feels about playing Nishikori in the fourth round, he said: “I guess I am ready now.
“I like Kei, I have always been a fan of his game, he is a nice kid, had a great few seasons. I have got my work cut out.”
No. 27 seed Tomic to play Evans on Friday
No. 12 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga passed a stern test from No. 23 seed Jack Sock on Friday with flying colours, moving into the fourth round of the Australian Open in Melbourne with a 7-6(4), 5-7, 7-6(8), 6-3 win.
Neither player faced a break point in the opening set, but Tsonga jumped out to a 4/1 lead in the tie-break and grabbed the early advantage on his first set point chance. Both players traded service holds throughout the second set, but the Frenchman finally earned the first break of the match to lead 6-5. He comfortably held to love in the next game to take a commanding two-sets lead.
Very little separated Sock and Tsonga in the third set, ultimately forcing another tie-break. In an epic battle, Sock saved match points down 5/6 and 7/8 before converting on his second set point after Tsonga missed a forehand smash.
But while some players may have gotten rattled, Tsonga refocused by breaking Sock early in the fourth set and racing to a 3-0 lead. He maintained his slight advantage the rest of the way and eventually closed out the contest on his first try in three hours and 33 minutes. The 2008 Australian Open runner-up improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Sock to 3-0.
Next up for the No. 12 seed is the winner of the match between No. 27 seed Bernard Tomic and Daniel Evans. The Frenchman has never played Evans, but leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Tomic 3-0. Should Tsonga win his next match, it would be his first quarter-final appearance in Melbourne since 2013.
| 2017 Australian Open |
|---|
| Venue: Melbourne Park Dates: 16-29 January |
| Coverage: Live radio and text commentary of every Andy Murray match on BBC Radio, the BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app. Watch highlights on BBC Two and online from 21 January. |
I thought I was pretty good in my win over Sam Querrey. I certainly played better than the first two matches. Sam’s a tough opponent with a big game so I was happy with it.
I probably warmed up for the match on three or four different occasions. Svetlana Kuznetsova was up a set and 4-1 on court before me, and then all of a sudden it was 3-0 in the decider to Jelena Jankovic. Then there was an injury time-out at the end.
You start warming up as soon as it gets to near the end of the match and then you just have to wait and hang around. It’s really tough but there’s not a lot you can do. I was ready to go out there for about an hour and a half.
The tough part is the mental side of it. You have to be switched on as you might just be about to go on and play in a Grand Slam match. It’s about trying to find a way of staying relaxed and not using up too much mental energy.
The support in the arena was great. The court we were playing on isn’t a ticketed court so you get really enthusiastic fans watching. Anyone can come in and watch – I think it’s $45 for the day. And with Dan Evans playing on the court after me, the Brits have been there all day. It was loud crowd, so I really enjoyed it.
Next up is Mischa Zverev. We’ve known each other since we were 12 years old, so for 17 years. We’re the same age and we grew up playing against each other in the juniors.
He’s a very quiet guy, and very calm on the court. He plays serve-volley tennis which you don’t see a lot nowadays and he’s improved so much over the last few months. His brother, Alex, is one of the best players in the world right now and they train together all the time. Their parents coached them so whenever I was playing with Mischa, when Alex was only tiny he would be on the side of the court with a racket in his hand.
There’s quite a different age gap between them and me and my brother but it’s always nice to have your family around you and to have someone who understands what it’s like to be a professional athlete – the stresses and everything you go through – it definitely helps.
Everyone was surprised by Novak Djokovic’s exit in Melbourne, for sure. But out of the last few Grand Slams he made the final of the US Open, the third round at Wimbledon and won the French Open. Every single player on the tour, bar one or two, would sign up for those results. When you compare it to what his standards are, he’ll probably be disappointed. But if you compare it to every other tennis player in the world, his last 12-18 months have been phenomenal.
I think everyone needs to give him a bit of a break. It is hard to keep up the intensity week after week, that’s why everyone has been so impressed by the group of players at the top of the game over the last few years.
The same guys have been there for the last 10 years because their performances in the major events have been incredibly consistent. They’re always in the finals and semi-finals. So when it doesn’t happen once, everyone is really surprised and shocked.
But I think the players themselves are a lot more understanding, as we know how difficult it is and how incredible the consistency has been over the last few years. It’s almost inevitable it will drop off at some point.
| 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. |
Top seed Andy Murray made short work of American Sam Querrey to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open.
The Briton, 29, won 6-4 6-2 6-4 on the Hisense Arena, the third show court at Melbourne Park.
Murray, who hopes to finally win the title after finishing runner-up five times, goes on to face Germany’s Mischa Zverev, the world number 50.
Fellow Briton Dan Evans takes on Australian 27th seed Bernard Tomic later on Friday.
“I felt better and better as the match went on in terms of my movement,” said Murray, who had turned his ankle during his previous match.
“I was a little bit hesitant maybe at the beginning. It was a little bit sore but I was moving well at the end, so that was very positive.”
Querrey was the man who upset then world number one Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon last summer, but Murray made sure he did not fall victim to another shock after the Serb’s surprise defeat by Denis Istomin on Thursday.
With six-time champion Djokovic out, Murray is a clear favourite among many observers to finally land the third leg of the career Grand Slam.
Querrey gave the Scot plenty to think about in the early stages of their third-round match, attacking the net and hurrying the top seed, but a first-serve percentage of just 57% was not enough to keep Murray at bay.
The American missed a fleeting chance with a break point in game eight and Murray immediately took advantage, getting the break himself in the next game with a beautiful lob.
He took a firm grip on the match with a run of six out of seven games, easing through the second set with two more breaks.
Murray punched away a winner to break at the start of the third set but there was a flurry of resistance as Querrey reeled off three straight games to lead 3-2.
There was no sustained comeback, however, as Murray once again turned up the pressure with his return of serve to break for a fifth time on his way to a comprehensive victory.
“Sam, especially in the first set, was hitting a huge ball,” added Murray.
“There was a key moment at 3-4 when I saved a break point and then managed to break the next game and had the momentum after that.”
Murray will start as a strong favourite against Zverev, but there is plenty of danger lurking on the Scot’s side of the draw.
Former winner Stan Wawrinka, the US Open champion, is through to the last 16 after a 3-6 6-2 6-2 7-6 (9-7) win over Serbia’s Viktor Troicki.
The Swiss, a potential semi-final opponent for Murray, will play Andreas Seppi next after the Italian beat Belgian Steve Darcis 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-2).
Should Murray get past Zverev on Saturday he could face a daunting quarter-final against four-time champion Federer, seventh seed Berdych or fifth seed Kei Nishikori, with Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko the outsider in that section.
Top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut successfully began their Australian Open title quest, advancing to the second round with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Adrian Mannarino and Adil Shamasdin in exactly one hour on Thursday. The all-French duo next face Jerzy Janowicz and Marcin Matkowski.
Sam Querrey and Donald Young caused the biggest upset in the doubles draw thus far, ousting defending champions and second seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in the first round. The Americans needed to capitalise on just their one break point chance in the 72-minute match for a 6-3, 7-6(5) win over the British/Brazilian team. Next up for Querrey and Young in the second round is the all-Russian duo of #NextGenATP star Karen Khachanov and Andrey Kuznetsov.
Sixth seeds and 2016 ATP Finals runners-up Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram advanced to the second round with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Aliaksandr Bury and Paolo Lorenzi. No. 7 seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, a new team for 2017, beat Swedes Johan Brunstrom and Andreas Siljestrom 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 for a meeting in the second round with Nicholas Monroe and Artem Sitak.
Eighth seeds Daniel Nestor and Edouard Roger-Vasselin needed just 57 minutes to beat Andres Molteni and Diego Schwartzman 6-0, 6-4. A clash with home hopes Marc Polmans and Andrew Whittington awaits the Canadian/French team in the second round.
Elsewhere, tenth seeds Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi came from a set deficit to defeat Leander Paes and Andre Sa 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4. Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, the No. 14 seeds, beat brothers Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski 6-3, 6-4 and Jurgen Melzer and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi ousted No. 13 seeds Mate Pavic and Alexander Peya 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic suffers a shock defeat by world number 117 Denis Istomin in the second round of the Australian Open.