Day of the 2017 Australian Open was quite eventful as three of the top 8 men’s seeds were pushed to five sets, while the Women’s side of the draw saw some upsets, and it was a great day for both Australian and American tennis fans as their players scored some key victories. Here is your full recap to get you ready for day 2 of AO 2017.
Cilic, Nishikori, and Wawrinka pushed to five sets
Marin Cilic looked terribly rusty early on against Jerzy Janowicz, but the much lower ranked Pole was unable to capitalize on a two sets to love lead, falling to Cilic 4-6 4-6 6-2 6-2 6-3. Janowicz began the match with great form and confidence, coming to net, and serving well enough that Cilic didn’t have an answer. A lack of recent matches against a player of Cilic’s caliber likely did him in though, as he faded late, surrendered breaks in each of the next three sets with little resistance, as Cilic marched back one set at a time. In the end, Cilic’s serve was enough to earn him a win in a match that was more difficult than expected.
The serve was the problem for Kei Nishikori, the #5 seed found himself in trouble against upstart Russian Andrey Kuznetsov, who took the first and fourth sets to force a fifth set in the searing Australian sunshine. Kuznetsov went for broke on his returns, at times it produced wild errors, but it also produced wildly successful shotmaking at times, as Nishikori was broken five times in the match, and in his biggest mistake of the match, he let Kuznetsov edge the fourth set tiebreak when he had a chance to put the match away. Kuznetsov had the game to trouble Nishikori, with his big hitting, but he lacked the mental fortitude and technical precision, surrendering points on return, and having his own serve broken enough that in the end Kei pushed out to a 5-7 6-1 6-4 6-7 6-2 victory over the ball basher. When he had the advantage, Kuznetsov was unable to follow up. The lone positive for Nishikori in this match, is that his hip seems to be okay, given that he lasted through five sets, while Kuznetsov wilted.
Stan Wawrinka faced the most trouble of any of the top men on day 1, the former champion went down a set and a break to Martin Klizan, and then lost the fourth set to be forced into a decisive fifth. In that fifth set he was down a break 3-4, but would secure two final breaks and a hold of serve to emerge victorious in a marathon contest. Klizan’s power, and the at times consistency of his serves troubled Wawrinka, but just like Kuznetsov found out, big hitting has its ceiling, and the Slovak was unable to win the key points of the contest. Wawrinka reaches round 2 after a tiring 4-6 6-4 7-5 4-6 6-4 victory.
Australians get off to happy start in the Happy Slam
Despite losses by James Duckworth, Sam Groth, and teenager Destanee Aiava, it was a happy day for Australian tennis fans overall as they both young players, and big names prevail. On the women’s side Ash Barty (20) eased past Annika Beck, while Jaimee Fourlis (17), upset Anna Tatishvili in straight sets. Fourlis had been troubled with injury problems prior to her Melbourne debut, but shook off any concerns in her big win.
Bernard Tomic and Nick Kyrgios won easily, to the delight of host nation fans. Tomic dominated a listless Thomaz Bellucci in straight sets, showing no signs of the poor form he entered the AO with. Kyrgios shook off concerns about his knee with a clinical performance against Gastao Elias. Elias will take his first round losers check after registering just five games total in their match.
The best result for the host nation was teenager Alex De Minaur‘s hard fought victory over Gerald Melzer 5-7 6-3 2-6 7-6 6-1. With Lleyton Hewitt in his box, De Minaur fought hard, not going away against the more experience Melzer. Despite being underpowered at times, he showed crafty technique, and even though he was cramping himself at the end of the match, Melzer was in worst physical shape, as De Minaur outlasted him in the fifth, perhaps in large part due to the fans willing him on. De Minaur is yet another young Aussie man who should be making his mark on the ATP tour soon enough.
The aforementioned Duckworth, and Groth weren’t quite as lucky. Duckworth was unable to force his traditional fifth set against Paolo Lorenzi, falling in the fourth set of a close match. Groth continued to struggle, losing out to veteran Sam Darcis in four sets. After taking the first set he took just six more games in the match. Aiava had a huge crowd behind her, but it wasn’t her destiny to win on Monday, as German Mona Barthel prevailed in straight sets.
American men and women get off to a fantastic start
American Women went 5-3 on day 1, but the wins they did get were big ones, starting of course with Shelby Rogers stunning victory against #4 seed Simona Halep. Rogers is now the favorite to reach at least the third round, after dominating Halep. Coco Vandeweghe beat #15 seed Roberta Vinci in straights, Varvara Lepchenko upended #19 seed Kiki Bertens in straights, and the ageless Venus Williams also won in straight sets against youngster Kateryna Kozlova. Julia Boserup made quick work of the retiring Francesca Schiavone in straight sets Alison Riske beat Madison Brengle, Samantha Crawford beat Lauren Davis, and #29 seed Monica Puig dominated Patricia Maria Tig.
Only Christina McHale, Vania King, and Louisa Chirico were unlucky on the day. Chirico lost to Genie Bouchard, while King fell in an upset to promising youngster Natalia Vikhlyantseva.
American men had a resounding 5-0 day. Veterans John Isner and Sam Querrey went through in four sets each. Despite not playing perfect matches, they both looked to be in good enough form to at least make it into the third round. Jack Sock and Steve Johnson dominated their matches, both winning in straight sets as Sock extended his winning streak from Auckland. The oft-forgotten Ryan Harrison had an easy day as well, dominating Nicolas Mahut in a spirited affair that featured a heated argument in the third set. Noah Rubin won his final two sets against Bjorn Fratangelo in a five set all-American battle of promising young guns.
Wrapping up Men’s Day 1
Fan favorites Andy Murray and Roger Federer may not be pleased with how they played in round 1, but they emerged victorious regardless. Murray was shaky in a straight sets win over Illya Marchenko, but finally he broke the Ukrainian’s will to compete in the third set. Federer dropped a set against Jurgen Melzer, but in the three sets he won to advance he looked to be in good form. Former finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga shockingly lost a set to Thiago Monteiro, but quickly recovered to take it in four, rather than the three he looked set to win in. Viktor Troicki got dragged into a five setter from 2-0 up with Damir Dzumhur but got a key late break, aided by a point penalty against Dzumhur. Tomas Berdych, and Jeremy Chardy both had easy days, winning via retirement early in their matches.
Young guns Andrey Rublev, and Karen Khachanov were both winners in four sets against ATP veterans and Alexander Bublik continued his amazing run in qualifying with a dominant four set victory over Lucas Pouille.
Veterans weren’t starved of success either, Mischa Zverev, Malek Jaziri, Dudi Sela, Victor Estrella, the aforementioned Lorenzi and Darcis, and Andreas Seppi all won their matches. Murray’s countryman Daniel Evans won as well, continuing his good former after reaching the final in Sydney. Dusan Lajovic won in straights, while seeds Pablo Cuevas (to Diego Schwartzman), and Albert Ramos (to qualifier Lukas Lacko) were knocked out.
Wrapping up Women’s Day 1
Defending champion Angie Kerber was pushed to three sets, but won two of those three sets comfortable to advance. Her countryman Carina Witthoeft won in straights, Julia Goerges won in three sets, while German seed Laura Siegemund fell to Jelena Jankovic in three sets.
Russian women found success on the day, Sveta Kuznetsova, and Ana Pavlyuchenkova both advanced. Kristyna Pliskova, Irina Begu, Sorana Cirstea, Ana Sevastova, Kristina Kucova, and Elina Svitolina did the same, with Pliskova and Begu winning close three setters.
Chinese women also produced good results, Shuai Peng upset the seed Daria Kasatkina, while Shuai Zhang and Ying-Ying Duan also advanced. Stefanie Voegele, #7 seed Garbine Muguruza, #10 seed Carla Suarez Navarro, and Pauline Parmentier round out the winners on day 1 of women’s singles action.
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