Ah, mid-January, one of the best times of the year for tennis fans. Our favourite sport is back and into full swing, with the first Grand Slam of the year, the Happy Slam, kicking into action. But the start times of the matches in Australia, the time differences! Calm down. We say embrace the early starts, the 3 a.m. or 6 a.m. or (insert your alarm time here) beginnings. You can pick and choose which days you arise early, but definitely turn your phone alarm on high in time for these first-rounders in Melbourne. View Draw | Read Draw Preview | Relive The 2017 Final Between Federer-Nadal Frances Tiafoe (USA) vs. (12) Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) FedEx ATP Head2Head...
American Bjorn Fratangelo has begun his past two Grand Slam seasons in Australian Open qualifying, and ended up in the main draw twice — in 2016 as a lucky loser and last season by winning all three matches. The 24-year-old is one match from making the main draw for the third year in a row after beating #NextGenATP Hungarian Zsombor Piros, who won the junior title in Australia last year, 6-3, 6-4, on a rain-logged Friday in Melbourne. “Conditions were different today – it was a lot more humid, which made things a little bit slower,” Fratangelo said. “I didn’t know his game at all, but I knew that he won juniors here last year. He’s definitely a good little player.”...
“Come on, Jimbo!” Those were the words of encouragement from Rafael Nadal, who showed up in the stands of Court 14 on the Australian Open grounds, to the surprise of Jaume Munar. The young Spaniard was playing his first round Australian Open qualifying match. “Jimbo” ultimately prevailed against Andrea Arnaboldi, 6-2, 6-4, and moved on to the second round of qualifying. “Having the support of Rafa is very special to me,” Munar told ATPWorldTour.com after the victory. “It wasn't like I was expecting him to come see me play. I know it isn't easy for him to get to a match with all the attention he draws, and despite all that he still managed to get up close to the...
Germany’s Dustin Brown received a standing ovation after he saved four match points on Thursday to reach the qualifying round at the Australian Open after a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(16) victory over World No. 248 Di Wu of China. “I’ve only played a long tiebreak like that once in a final set. It was just a very difficult match. He started off so well and I realised I just had to get loose and swing,” said Brown, who led 4/1 in the tie-break. “I tried to make him think. He played unbelievable shots on my match points in the tie-break.” Brown now plays 18-year-old American Stefan Kozlov, who beat Yannick Hanfmann of Germany 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4. Watch Live Streaming Of Qualifying...