Grigor Dimitrov was eager to avoid a late-night marathon at the Australian Open on Saturday, dispatching 18th seed Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in two hours and two minutes to advance to the fourth round. After Rafael Nadal's five-set victory over Alexander Zverev extended the day session on Rod Laver Arena, Dimitrov and Gasquet didn't get underway until 11:58 p.m. local time in Melbourne. The seventh battle between two of the more majestic one-handed backhands on tour would go the way of the Bulgarian in convincing fashion. He fired 48 winners, including 11 aces, while turning aside six of seven break points faced. He continued his impressive start to the season, remaining undefeated (8-0) after lifting his fifth ATP World...
Alexander Zverev had Rafael Nadal on the ropes again. The 19-year-old German led the Spaniard two sets to one on Saturday during their third-round match at the Australian Open. But for the second time in the past 11 months, Nadal rallied to come back against Zverev, sending the #NextGenATP star home after a 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2 win that lasted more than four hours. Zverev, however, felt positive about the performance. “Even now I'm disappointed, but I know that this was a great match. That was a great fight. There are a lot of positives in this match. I think he's probably one of the fittest tennis players in the history of the game,” Zverev said. “Obviously I wanted...
The home nation will be well-represented in the third round of the Australian Open doubles draw, as Sam Groth and Chris Guccione stunned 10th seeds Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi 7-6(10), 7-6(5) on Saturday at Melbourne Park. The unseeded duo, winners of two ATP World Tour titles together, join the Aussie wild card teams of Marc Polmans/Andrew Whittington and Alex Bolt/Bradley Mousley in the Round of 16. Groth and Guccione needed just under two hours to move on, launching 17 aces, while saving all three break points faced. For Groth, it is the 29 year old's third straight appearance in the doubles Round of 16 at Melbourne Park, having advanced as far with Eric Butorac in 2015 and Lleyton Hewitt...
Rafael Nadal survived a marathon third-round battle against Alexander Zverev on Saturday at the Australian Open in Melbourne, coming through with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2 win on Rod Laver Arena. "It's obviously an important result for me," said Nadal, who had lost his past three five-set contests in Grand Slam action. "So it's important for me to win a match like this, having been down two sets to one. I'm very happy." A single break of serve was all that was needed in each of the first two sets. Neither player faced a break point in the third set, ultimately forcing a critical tie-break. Nadal gave the crucial mini-break to Zverev with a forehand error at 5/5, and...
Eighth seed Dominic Thiem withstood a determined Benoit Paire on Saturday at the Australian Open, firing 46 winners to prevail 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in their third-round battle and reach the second week in Melbourne for the first time in his career. “He started to play better. Of course I expected it, because it’s normal that he doesn’t continue like [he did] in the first set,” said Thiem. “It was pretty uncomfortable for me, all his drop shots and he was coming up to the net a lot. He knew how to hurt me. It was pretty lucky for me to win these [last] two sets.” Next up for Thiem is No. 11 seed David Goffin, who wasted no time...