In his first match for more than six months, Stan Wawrinka, at times, looked his old self, smacking backhand winners and gaining free points behind his serve. But at no point did Wawrinka resemble his three-time Grand Slam champion self more than at the moment when he needed to play his best. In the fourth-set tie-break, the ninth seed sped past Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis, winning seven of nine points to ensure a successful return to Melbourne 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(2). “It's great to be back,” said Wawrinka. “It's great to win, for sure. It was a tough one in all aspects of the game but, in general, I'm really happy to get through a match like that. To fight the...
Elbow problems? What elbow problems? For at least his first-round match, Novak Djokovic brushed aside any worries of his right elbow holding him back during this Australian Open. The six-time champion routed American veteran Donald Young, looking like his old self as he crushed sliding forehand winners and broke Young six times to advance 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. “It felt great to be back on the court and compete again,” said Djokovic. “It’s been a while [so] obviously you don't know how you're going to start off. I was putting a lot of hours on the court in the past couple weeks… I could feel that I was hitting the ball well.” [ALSO LIKE] It was Djokovic's first match in more...
Twice Thomas Fabbiano served to take a set from fourth seed Alexander Zverev during their first-round match at the Australian Open on Tuesday. But both times Zverev raised his level and broke the Italian en route to his first win of the 2018 ATP World Tour season, a 6-1, 7-6(5), 7-5 victory on Rod Laver Arena. “I think I picked up my energy a little bit and was a little more intense on my returns,” Zverev said on court after the match. [ALSO LIKE] The 20-year-old rolled behind 47 winners, including 17 aces, and broke Fabbiano five times in the two-hour and 22-minute contest. It's the second consecutive year the 6'6” right-hander has advanced to the second round in Australia....
The upsets are continuing on Day 2 at the Australian Open. Former Australian Open semi-finalist Milos Raonic, the 22nd seed this year, has been eliminated by Slovakia's Lukas Lacko. The 30-year-old Lacko, No. 86 in the ATP Rankings, overcame 36 aces from the 6'5” Raonic to advance to the second round 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-4, 7-6(4). [ALSO LIKE] It's one of the biggest wins of Lacko's career. The right-hander is 0-18 against Top 10 players but he improved to 14-30 at Grand Slams. Raonic was playing in his second match of the season after falling in his opener at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp to #NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur. The former World No. 3 ended his season in October...
Nick Kyrgios stormed into the second round of the Australian Open after a comfortable 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 win over Rogerio Dutra Silva on Monday. After winning the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp in the first week of the season, Kyrgios looked as sharp as ever, competing with real confidence that he can go deep in the draw and improve on his best result in Melbourne - a quarter-final showing in 2015. Kyrgios landed 16 aces in the 87-minute encounter, but admitted experiencing nerves early in the match in front of his home crowd. “I was a bit nervous going out there. [I am] happy to get through,” said Kyrgios. “I loosened up a little bit in the third set... ultimately,...
