Right ok so its time for my post of the Australian Open, the first grand slam of the tennis season from Melbourne Park, where the world's best tennis players compete to win one of tennis's most craved trophies. This post will cover the 1st round matches as play go underway on Monday there so let's get to it and I'll start with the lasses...
OK so ladies first, starting with Day 1, out on court first we had Maria Sharapova who wasted precious time on the court, as she smashed her opponent, Olga Puchkova without even dropping a single game, with a brutal 6-0, 6-0 bludgeoning. Despite the fact that Maria had not played a competitive match this year leading up to Melbourne, she quickly shrugged off any fears of her rustiness with this performance. So next up for Maria will be Misaki Doi of Japan in the 2nd round. After that we had Sam Stosur who took on Chang Kai-Chen of Taiwan, who had defeated the Aussie No.1 last year in Osaka, and there were concerns that Sam would make another first round exit like she did at Melbourne last year. However these fears were quickly dispelled as Sam battled her way through the first set, which she took on the tiebreak, and then went on to secure the break in the 2nd to close out her first win in Melbourne for a while in 7-6, 6-3. It was good to see Sam win through as she had already gone out twice in the Australian warm up events in her first match, so hopefully this will give her more confidence to carry on in the event. Next up we had Li Na who had little trouble in making it past her opponent Sesil Karantantcheva with a straight forward 6-1, 6-3 win. Agnieszka Radwanska also managed to breeze past the Aussie player, Bojana Bobusic, after a tight first set, her opponent had no answer for her whatsoever, with the World No.4 winning in 7-5, 6-0. Venus Williams also showed a very impressive and dominant performance who trounced Galina Voskoboeva, only dropping a single game on her way to the 2nd round with a 6-0, 6-1 victory.
So onto day 2 of the ladies, which saw more of the top seeds in battle, and we saw a couple of early exit shockers, with first up the biggest one being, the 7th seed, Sara Errani, and quarter finalist last year, go out to the Spanish player, Carla Suarez Navarro in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. Nadia Petrova also went out, the 12th seed, to Kimiko Date Krumm of Japan, who thrashed the former world no.3 in 6-2, 6-0. As for the top seeds, Serena Williams, despite having an injury scare, having twisted her ankle on court, had little trouble getting past her opponent Edina Gallovits Hall witha bruising 6-0, 6-0 win, which shows you just how Serena is even with an injury!
Victoria Azarenka, the defending champion had a slightly trickier time against Monica Niculescu of Romania, after winning the first set, she went 3-0 down in the 2nd set, but Vika quickly regained momentum and won the match in 6-1, 6-4. Petra Kvitova on the other hand had a much tougher passage into the 2nd round as she battled past Francesca Schiavone, after a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win. And the 10th seed, Caroline Wozniacki also had a test in front of her, who played Sabine Lisicki of Gemany, after dropping the opening set, Caroline battled back in the 2nd set and went on to take the 3rd to seal her place in the 2nd round with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory. It was good to see Caroline get past her first hurdle as Lisicki is a tough player to beat, but on hard court Caroline would be the favourite and with it she managed to avoid another early exit in a major, after her last two 1st round exits last year at Wimbledon and the US Open. Angelique Kerber also made is safely into the 2nd round against her opponent Elina Svitolina in 6-2, 6-4. And finally Marion Bartoli the French No.1, who did have a tough time getting through to the 2nd round as she beat Anabel Medina Garrigues in straight sets, despite the 6-2, 6-4 scoreline it was a tough match.
As for the British interest on the ladies front, Heather Watson on day 1 had a tough time on court as she faced Alexandra Cadantu of Romania, having dropped the opening set and looking rather weary on court. In the 2nd set Heather took a long medical time out for cramp and after that she made an impressive comeback, by fighting her way to win the 2nd set, and she broke twice in the 3rd to seal out the match in 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. Laura Robson on the other hand had no such trouble in her first match as she powered her way past Melanie Oudin in 6-2, 6-3, but she will go on to face Petra Kvitova, so she will have her work cut out for her there, but it promises to be a good match.
So now onto the men starting with Novak Djokovic, the defending champion on Day 1 who was up against the Frenchman, Paul Henrei Mathieu, who despite a spirited fight from the Mathieu in the 2nd and 3rd sets, managed to win comfortably in the end in 6-2, 6-4, 7-5. This sees Nole getting his title defence off to a strong start as he put in a fine performance against the Frenchman, and he was impressive on serve and his return game. Although Nole's next opponent might prove to be quite a tough one as he will play the very talented young American, Ryan Harrison. David Ferrer up next also had a pretty easy time of it, as he breezed past Olivier Rochus in 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to seal his 2nd round match with Tim Smyczek. In a high profile match and a much anticipated one Lleyton Hewitt, the former World No.1, and Melbourne finalist, took on Janko Tipsarevic of Sebria, the World No.9. And despite a spirited fight from the Aussie, it was Tipsy who went on to close out the match after 3 hours with a straight sets win of 7-6, 7-5, 6-3.
In other men's matches Tomas Berdych won comfortably against the American player, Michael Russell with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 result. Fernando Verdasco saw off a very gutsy fight from the young baby faced Belgian, David Goffin, who I saw last year at the Davis cup tie in Braehead (he won the tie for Belgium) and Verdasco battled through in 5 sets with a 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win. And Kei Nishikori of Japan, managed to get past Victor Hansecu of Romania (popular contry!) with a 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 scoreline.
So onto Day 2 for the men, starting with the British No.1 and reigning US Open champion, Andy Murray, who was up against the Dutch player, Robin Haase. In their last meeting, Andy had a very narrow scrape with the Dutchman, who pushed Andy to 5 sets before the Muzza managed to pull off the win, from two sets to love down. However this match couldn't have been more different as Andy had little trouble with Haase, as he made a very impressive start in Melbounre, and he swept Haase aside in straight sets with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 win. This was a really good start from Andy and just what the doctor ordered, as the Crocodile Dunblane (a joke made up in the press from pics of Andy's face superimposed on Crocodile Dundee's face!) made his presence known in Melbounre, sending a strong message to his rivals that he is in this to win it. Also on court we had Roger Federer, who despite having not played a match since last year's ATP world tour finals, got off to an impressive start, and dismissed Benoit Paire of France in 6-2, 6-4, 6-1. Throughout Roger played some amazing shots, not to mention some lovely net skils and nuianced drop shots that the Frenchman had no answer for, and it makes you think that after all this time, Fed is still very much in the mix (well he isn't the World No.2 for nothing!).
In other matches on Day 2 for the men we had Juan Martin Del Potro who also had little trouble in beating the Frenchman, Adrian Mannarino in 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 (even more impressive than Roger and Andy games wise!). Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had a slightly tougher time against his compatriot, Michael Llodra, but still made a safe passage into the 2nd round after beating him 6-4, 7-5, 6-2. And Jo's fellow Frenchman, who is steadily catching up on him in the rankings, Richard Gasquet, also made a fine start in beating Albert Montanes of Spain in 7-5, 6-2, 6-1. Milos Raonic, the 13th seed however had a tougher time in his first round match in beating his opponent, the Czeck 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 7-6. Gilles Simon of France also had a tricky time of it in reaching the 2nd round as he defeated Filippo Volandri in 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. And finally the young upstart that is Bernard Tomic, who despite all his bravado (or bullshit if you like!) made a very good start as he beat Leonardo Mayer of Argentina in 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 to the delight of the home crowd, and he could be a very much anticipated 3rd round opponent for Federer, but whether or not he can topple the mighty Fed is another matter altogether.
Sooooooooooooooooooo that's it for now, more to follow in a couple of days once the 2nd round matches are over with.
Until then bye for now!
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