Alexander Zverev has proven his talent, soaring into the Top 5 of the ATP Rankings with five ATP World Tour titles last year, but once again fell short at a Grand Slam. After a tough five-set loss to Hyeon Chung on Saturday, the World No. 4, still waiting to reach his first quarter-final at a major, received some valuable advice from 19-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer. Remembering his own struggles early in his career, Federer reflected that it is not always easy to progress to the latter stages of a major for the first time. The Swiss did not advance past the quarter-finals at that level before breaking through and winning his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2003....
Tomas Berdych advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open for the 10th time with an impressive 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 12 seed Juan Martin del Potro on Saturday. The two-time semi-finalist hit 20 aces in the two-hour, 16-minute encounter and broke the Argentine on seven occasions to take sole ownership of the record for the most Open Era fourth round appearances at the Australian Open by a Czech man. Berdych will play Fabio Fognini for a place in the quarter-finals after the Italian ended the run of Julien Benneteau 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in three hours. After trading breaks early in the first set, Berdych made the crucial breakthrough in the sixth game to lead...
If second seed Roger Federer is feeling any pressure to defend his 2017 Australian Open title this fortnight, he certainly is not showing it. The Swiss right-hander won in straight sets for the third match in a row on Saturday evening, ousting No. 29 seed Richard Gasquet 6-2, 7-5, 6-4. “My head’s still spinning from the match point where I got so lucky so I’m just trying to get over that one,” Federer said with a laugh on court after the match. “I think I was able to maybe stay a little bit more on the offensive than he was and maybe I was protecting my own serve a little bit better than him, I don’t know. But the second...
Six-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic is finding his form, breaking serve five times to advance to the second week at Melbourne Park for the 11th time with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 victory over No. 21 seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas on Saturday. “I knew coming into the match that Albert is a great fighter. He grinds, he gets a lot of balls back,” Djokovic said on court after the match. "Obviously for me it’s taking one match at a time. I have some incredible memories in Melbourne Park in the last decade of my career and obviously that comes back every time I land in Melbourne and I play on these courts.” Djokovic is continuing his pursuit of a record seventh...
Hyeon Chung became the first South Korean man of all-time to reach the Australian Open fourth round after coming from behind to beat World No. 4 Alexander Zverev 5-7, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 on Saturday. "I'm just so happy to make the fourth round in [a Grand] Slam with so many good players," Chung said. "I don't want to stop here. [I want to] keep going." Chung, who now owns a 2-0 lead in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Zverev, recorded his first Top 5 win in the three-hour, 22-minute contest with the help of 19 winners to his opponent's nine in the final two sets. The reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion will face Novak Djokovic for a...
