If Andrey Rublev was looking for a little extra adrenaline ahead of his Australian Open second-round clash with Andy Murray, the Russian #NextGenATP star found some on Tuesday in Melbourne with some sparring at Fight Club boxing gym. The 19-year-old Rublev defeated Yen-Hsun Lu on Monday at Melbourne Park to record his first Grand Slam main draw victory. Ahead of his clash with World No. 1 Murray, the right-hander, whose father is a former boxer, engaged in a sparring session with the trainer at Fight Club. Looking ahead to the clash with Murray, which is scheduled for the Rod Laver Arena evening session on Wednesday, Rublev said, "I’m so excited, I have nothing to lose. He’s the best tennis player...
Milos Raonic wasted little energy on Tuesday during his Australian Open first-round contest, beating "Hot Shot Machine" Dustin Brown of Germany 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. ”It's obviously tough to have necessarily a solid performance all the way through, but I did what I needed to,” said Raonic. “I took care of my serve. I broke quite early in all the sets. I just dropped off a little bit where I faced a few sort of dangers on my service games in the beginning of the third, end of the second. I returned pretty solid when I had to. I stepped up, and I played well.” The third-seeded Raonic continued his attacking style, which has gained new emphasis under coach Richard Krajicek....
Watch highlights of Stan Wawrinka surviving a five-set opener against Martin Klizan at the 2017 Australian Open. Video courtesy Tennis Australia. Getty Images photo.
#NextGenATP star Alexander Zverev overcame a two-sets-to-one deficit on Tuesday against Robin Haase to gain his first career win at the Australian Open 6-2, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. Zverev fell behind a break in the fourth set and shattered his racquet in frustration. But the 19-year-old German won 12 of the final 15 games to improve his five-set record to 3-2 with the two-hour and 54-minute victory. The right-hander had lost in the first round in Melbourne last year, his only prior appearance at Melbourne Park. Zverev, the 24th seed, will next meet fellow #NextGenATP player Frances Tiafoe, who earned his first Grand Slam win by beating Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2. The 18-year-old American had been...
Rafael Nadal did his best to erase the memory of his 2016 first-round loss in Melbourne on Tuesday, dominating Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in just over two hours in Rod Laver Arena. The Spaniard landed 70 per cent of his first serves and ripped 39 winners against the 33-year-old Mayer, who was playing at Melbourne Park for the first time in three years. “I think I played solid match,” said Nadal. “It was great to be back on the big stadium. I feel the support of the people, love of the people. That is something that is very special for me. I am happy the way I am playing. I had [some] good weeks of practise… I always expect...
