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,”...
Twelve months ago, on Hisense Arena, Nick Kyrgios lost a two-sets-to-love lead to succumb 10-8 in the fifth set to Andreas Seppi in the second round. On Wednesday, there was to be no repeat of that bitter disappointment at the Australian Open. Kyrgios overcame Serbia’s Viktor Troicki, on the same stadium court, in a performance typical of the Australian’s great start to the 2018 season, which includes his fourth ATP World Tour crown at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp (d. Harrison). The 22-year-old Kyrgios failed to serve out the match at 5-4 in the third set, but came through a big-hitting encounter 7-5, 6-4, 7-6(2) in two hours and 12 minutes. “I think last year, the year before, I...
Five points from defeat? No matter. Out on Court 14, on the opening day of Australian Open doubles action, six-time champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan found themselves just five points from defeat. What happened next was typical of a team with 114 tour-level doubles titles to their name. The Bryans rallied, staving off three break points before winning nine of the next 11 games to recover from a set and 4-4, 0/40 down to beat Marton Fucsovics and Yoshihito Nishioka 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 on Wednesday. Chasing a first title in Melbourne since 2013 (d. Haase/Sijsling), the 2017 finalists outhit their opponents 40 winners to 27 in the one-hour, 54-minute contest. They will next face Max Mirnyi and Philipp Oswald,...
World No. 1 Rafael Nadal continued his quest for a 17th Grand Slam championship with an often hard-fought second-round victory over Leonardo Mayer on Wednesday evening at the Australian Open. At times, Nadal, the 2009 champion, was left frustrated by Mayer’s resilience, but ultimately the Spanish superstar extended his perfect FedEx ATP Head2Head record to 5-0 against the Argentine with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4) win in two hours and 38 minutes. “It was an important victory for me,” Nadal told Roger Rasheed in an on-court interview. “[Mayer is] always a tough opponent. I had to hit some great shots in the tie-break. I’m happy to be in the third round after a while without being in competition.” Nadal, who is...
Rare is the Grand Slam tournament in which Marin Cilic grabs the headlines and is the talk of the preamble. The Big Four and Stan Wawrinka do that too well most of the time. But equally as rare is the Grand Slam where Cilic is not a quiet contender who plays his way into title-contention form by the second week. The Croatian looks like he's on his way to such status again at the 2018 Australian Open. [ALSO LIKE] The sixth seed dismissed Portugal's Joao Sousa in straight sets on Wednesday 6-1, 7-5, 6-2 to advance to the third round in Melbourne for the seventh time. The 6'6” right-hander, who reached his second Grand Slam final last year at Wimbledon...
