In a meeting of Qatar ExxonMobil Open semi-finalists, Dominic Thiem got the better of Guido Pella 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to successfully launch his bid for a first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open on Tuesday. Thiem, appearing for the first time since withdrawing in Doha with a viral infection, booked his place in the second round for a third straight year. Having saved all six break points he faced in the two-hour, 16-minute encounter, Thiem will face Denis Kudla in the second round after the American defeated compatriot Steve Johnson 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-2 Competing at his highest ever Grand Slam seeding of No. 5, Thiem found himself down break point in his opening service game, but would navigate...
Defending champion Roger Federer started his 2018 campaign for a sixth Australian Open crown on Tuesday night with a confident performance on Rod Laver Arena. The World No. 2, who is competing in his 19th tournament at Melbourne Park, defeated Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 40 minutes. The Swiss star is now 88-13 lifetime at the first Grand Slam championship of the year. Federer will next challenge Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff, who hit 45 winners, including 19 aces, past wild card Soonwoo Kwon of South Korea in a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 victory in 77 minutes. If it is up to Federer, fans can look forward to seeing the 36-year-old play again during the evening session...
Roger Federer talks about the different mindset he has coming into the 2018 Australian Open, compared to 12 months ago when he was starting his comeback.
In his first match for more than six months, Stan Wawrinka, at times, looked his old self, smacking backhand winners and gaining free points behind his serve. But at no point did Wawrinka resemble his three-time Grand Slam champion self more than at the moment when he needed to play his best. In the fourth-set tie-break, the ninth seed sped past Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis, winning seven of nine points to ensure a successful return to Melbourne 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(2). “It's great to be back,” said Wawrinka. “It's great to win, for sure. It was a tough one in all aspects of the game but, in general, I'm really happy to get through a match like that. To fight the...
Elbow problems? What elbow problems? For at least his first-round match, Novak Djokovic brushed aside any worries of his right elbow holding him back during this Australian Open. The six-time champion routed American veteran Donald Young, looking like his old self as he crushed sliding forehand winners and broke Young six times to advance 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. “It felt great to be back on the court and compete again,” said Djokovic. “It’s been a while [so] obviously you don't know how you're going to start off. I was putting a lot of hours on the court in the past couple weeks… I could feel that I was hitting the ball well.” [ALSO LIKE] It was Djokovic's first match in more...
