Melbourne: A dominant Rafael Nadal swept into the Australian Open tennis tournament third round to keep his Grand Slam title hunt on track Wednesday, while Jo-Wilfried Tsonga kept the flag of the old guard flying with a five-set victory over Canadian youngster Denis Shapovalov. Among the Young Turks, Australian Nick Kyrgios and Russian Andrey Rublev also sealed their places in the third round.
World No.1 Nadal’s march towards a 17th Grand Slam crown was never threatened by Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer, who took him to a third set tie-break before being swatted aside 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(7/4) on the Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park.
“Playing this court is always a big motivation for me,” said Nadal. “He was a dangerous opponent and I’m happy to be in the third round. For my team and my family, this is our favourite tournament of the year, so I hope to stay around a bit longer,” he added.
Nadal next plays Bosnian 28th seed Damir Dzumhur, who overcame Australian John Millman 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.
There was a time when Tsonga was one of the new kids bounding on to the block. Now aged 32, the charismatic Frenchman, used his vast experience to outlast the 15th seed straggly-haired teenager Shapovalov 3-6, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(7-4), 7-5 in a five-set classic.
Eighteen-year-old Melbourne debutant Shapovalov, playing only his third Grand Slam, would have been a worthy winner had he not wobbled when serving for the match at 5-3. Two errors from his favourite backhand and a double-fault opened the door for Tsonga to break back and the Frenchman then swept through the final three games.
“I’m tired but really happy,” Tsonga, who performed his crowd-pleasing celebratory dance, said on court. “I did a big fight today. It’s not easy to play the young guns, they play great and go for everything so it’s difficult to defend. I suffered physically but I continued to fight.”
It was tight for Australian Kyrgios though as he had to fight in every set before winning 7-5, 6-4, 7-6(7-2) against Serbian journeyman Viktor Troicki. Kyrgios managed to come up with winners at vital stages to seal the match.
Rublev also had to fight hard against former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus. The World No.30 Russian won 6-4, 6-7(5-7), 6-4, 6-2.
Meanwhile third seed Grigor Dimitrov survived a huge scare against McKenzie Mcdonald of the US. The unseeded, unheralded American fought for every point and Dimitrov had to dig deep into his reserves before winning the five-set thriller 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 8-6 in a match that lasted 218 minutes.
It seemed all over for Dimitrov when McDonald reeled off eight games in a row to win the fourth set and lead 3-0 in the fifth with a break. However, Dimitrov recovered his mojo at the right time to emerge victorious.
Other results
Marin Cilic (6) bt Joao Sousa 6-1, 7-5, 6-2
Kyle Edmund bt Denis Istomin 6-2, 6-2, 6-4
Ivo Karlovic bt Yuchi Sugita 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, 4-6, 12-10
Ryan Harrison bt Paulo Cuevas 6-4, 7-6, 4-6
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