Dominic Thiem didn't have a lot of memories to rely on when he fell behind two sets to love against Denis Kudla of the U.S. on Thursday at the Australian Open. The fifth-seeded Austrian had come back from the deficit only one other time in his career (2014 US Open, d. Gulbis). Make that two times. Thiem advanced to the third round in Melbourne for the third consecutive year, hitting 57 winners and persevering 6-7(6), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. “I'm of course more than happy to be in the third round again,” Thiem said on court after the three-hour and 48-minute contest. Thiem, who's reached back-to-back semi-finals at Roland Garros, now sits a round away from matching his best showing...
Top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo advanced their hopes of winning a second Grand Slam title together on Thursday at the Australian Open. The 2017 Wimbledon champions spent only 51 minutes on court during a 6-2, 6-2 win against Italy's Paolo Lorenzi and Mischa Zverev of Germany. Kubot/Melo, who won the Sydney International doubles title last week, their seventh team crown in the past 11 months, captured 82 per cent of their first-serve points and hit 20 more winners than Lorenzi/Zverev (29-9). The top seeds will next meet Aussie wild cards Max Purcell and Luke Saville, who prevailed past Russians Mikhail Elgin and Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-4. [ALSO LIKE] Third seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau also were on...
Watch highlights of Grigor Dimitrov escaping a second-round battle against Mackenzie McDonald of the U.S. Video courtesy Tennis Australia. Watch more video and live matches at www.ausopen.com. Photo: Michael Dodge/Getty Images.
Ivo Karlovic fired down aces – as only he can – on Wednesday to become the oldest player to reach the Australian Open third round in 40 years. Karlovic, who turns 39 next month, came through the longest match of the tournament so far with 53 aces in a 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 7-5, 4-6, 12-10 victory over Japan’s Yuichi Sugita in four hours and 33 minutes. “I‘m happy, but also very tired,” said 6’11” Karlovic, who towered over 5’9” Sugita. “I was already feeling it at the beginning of the third set, but I just focused on my serve.” The Croatian, who will now take on Italian Andreas Seppi, will be the oldest player to compete in the third round since...
Grigor Dimitrov survived a huge test at the Australian Open to defeat American qualifier Mackenzie McDonald 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 8-6 on Wednesday. Dimitrov found himself in serious danger against McDonald, who had never previously faced a player ranked higher than No. 69 in the ATP Rankings, but came through in three hours and 26 minutes. Dimitrov, who reached the semi-finals last year, bounced back from losing the fourth set 0-6, and, as the pressure increased, the Bulgarian used his big-match experience to convert the lone break point opportunity of the fifth set for a memorable win over the World No. 186. “I fought through the match. I had to find a way to win. It was simple as that,”...
