What a way to spend the day - riveting action on Day 3 at the Australian Open. Some really scintillating display of roller-coaster games where top players nearly crashed out.
119-Jana Fett vs 2-Caroline Wozniacki
Fett, making her Grand Slam debut, won the first set, 6-3.
She lost the 2nd, 2-6.
In the 3rd set, she was on the brink of creating history, when she was serving for the match at 5-1.
And then the unbelievable turnaround. She lost control, letting Wozniacki claw her way back.
Fett lost 5-7.
6-3, 2-6, 5-7
The way Wozniacki picked her points in the last games of the deciding set, gave me a feeling that she loves to be on the edge, and knows how to find her way back to safety.
51-Dennis Shapovalov vs 15- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
I joined this match when it was two set all, and in the fifth set Tsonga was on the defensive, down 2-5, and on the verge of losing the match.
But another turn around. He battled his way back to win the decider 7-5.
6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7, 5-7
186-Mackenzie McDonald vs 3-Grigor Dimitrov
McDonald won the first, 6-4; lost the 2nd, 2-6, lost the third, 4-6, but won the fourth 6-0.
When the fifth set began, excitement mounted with the hope that he will carry the momentum, and edge Dimitrov out.
This guy, who was on the verge of creating history in a Grand Slam, had played just four tour-level matches, and lost in the first round in all of them. And he was playing in an arena as big as Rod Laver Stadium for the first time. But then, he seemed to have everything under his control.
But Dimitrov held out in the deciding set. It was 3-3. Then it became 4-3 Dimitrov. It was back to 4-4. Then, McDonald made it 5-5. Then Dimitrov edged ahead 6-5. McDonald levelled it 6-6, but then he slipped, letting Dimitrov make it 8-6.
A match that the world number 3 just managed to survive and move into the third round.
6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 6-0, 6-8
25-ranked Daria Gavrilova vs 36-ranked Elise Mertens
It was just a minute short of 6.30 pm; means a minute short of midnight at Melbourne. The last match of the day began.
One interest in this match was that Gavrilova is a local Melbourne girl. And it looked she will just wrap this match up in jiffy, as she led 5-0 in the first set.
Then suddenly the match began to come alive. Mertens picked up one game after another, and in no time, the scores were level; and then she unbelievably won the first set 7-5, after trailing 0-5.
The level of Mertens' game seemed to have dramatically improved. She was making Gavrilova sweat for each point.
In the second set, from two games all, Mertens reached 4-2.
Then, Gavrilova got into an argument with the chair umpire. When she was trailing 2-4, she challenged a point. But the umpire, Aurelie Tourte, said she was late in raising the challenge, and that she was looking at her box in the stands.
But Gavrilova insisted that she wasn't late, that she had raised her hand, and that she was actually looking at the screen.
The umpire retorted, "No, you were waiting."
"No, I wasn't," the player shot back, and walked back to her place quite dejected.
She never recovered after that.
Mertens moved up to 5-2, and finally she wrapped up the match at 6-3.
5-7, 3-6
What stood out was Mertens' composure. Gavrilova seemed to be getting distracted from the moment she lost a point in the first set after noticing a feather drifting into the court.
And after the post-match shake-hand, Gavrilova climbed up the chair of the umpire, and argued about the earlier challenge. Not surprising, considering her disappointment of having lost on her home ground. Luckily for her, there were not many in the stands, and most Australians will only wake up tomorrow to know that their local player has crashed out.
The day also saw Nadal beating Mayer, which I missed.
On the whole, a some really entertaining tennis.
119-Jana Fett vs 2-Caroline Wozniacki
Fett, making her Grand Slam debut, won the first set, 6-3.
She lost the 2nd, 2-6.
In the 3rd set, she was on the brink of creating history, when she was serving for the match at 5-1.
And then the unbelievable turnaround. She lost control, letting Wozniacki claw her way back.
Fett lost 5-7.
6-3, 2-6, 5-7
The way Wozniacki picked her points in the last games of the deciding set, gave me a feeling that she loves to be on the edge, and knows how to find her way back to safety.
51-Dennis Shapovalov vs 15- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
I joined this match when it was two set all, and in the fifth set Tsonga was on the defensive, down 2-5, and on the verge of losing the match.
But another turn around. He battled his way back to win the decider 7-5.
6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7, 5-7
186-Mackenzie McDonald vs 3-Grigor Dimitrov
McDonald won the first, 6-4; lost the 2nd, 2-6, lost the third, 4-6, but won the fourth 6-0.
When the fifth set began, excitement mounted with the hope that he will carry the momentum, and edge Dimitrov out.
This guy, who was on the verge of creating history in a Grand Slam, had played just four tour-level matches, and lost in the first round in all of them. And he was playing in an arena as big as Rod Laver Stadium for the first time. But then, he seemed to have everything under his control.
But Dimitrov held out in the deciding set. It was 3-3. Then it became 4-3 Dimitrov. It was back to 4-4. Then, McDonald made it 5-5. Then Dimitrov edged ahead 6-5. McDonald levelled it 6-6, but then he slipped, letting Dimitrov make it 8-6.
A match that the world number 3 just managed to survive and move into the third round.
6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 6-0, 6-8
25-ranked Daria Gavrilova vs 36-ranked Elise Mertens
It was just a minute short of 6.30 pm; means a minute short of midnight at Melbourne. The last match of the day began.
One interest in this match was that Gavrilova is a local Melbourne girl. And it looked she will just wrap this match up in jiffy, as she led 5-0 in the first set.
Then suddenly the match began to come alive. Mertens picked up one game after another, and in no time, the scores were level; and then she unbelievably won the first set 7-5, after trailing 0-5.
The level of Mertens' game seemed to have dramatically improved. She was making Gavrilova sweat for each point.
In the second set, from two games all, Mertens reached 4-2.
Then, Gavrilova got into an argument with the chair umpire. When she was trailing 2-4, she challenged a point. But the umpire, Aurelie Tourte, said she was late in raising the challenge, and that she was looking at her box in the stands.
But Gavrilova insisted that she wasn't late, that she had raised her hand, and that she was actually looking at the screen.
The umpire retorted, "No, you were waiting."
"No, I wasn't," the player shot back, and walked back to her place quite dejected.
She never recovered after that.
Mertens moved up to 5-2, and finally she wrapped up the match at 6-3.
5-7, 3-6
What stood out was Mertens' composure. Gavrilova seemed to be getting distracted from the moment she lost a point in the first set after noticing a feather drifting into the court.
And after the post-match shake-hand, Gavrilova climbed up the chair of the umpire, and argued about the earlier challenge. Not surprising, considering her disappointment of having lost on her home ground. Luckily for her, there were not many in the stands, and most Australians will only wake up tomorrow to know that their local player has crashed out.
The day also saw Nadal beating Mayer, which I missed.
On the whole, a some really entertaining tennis.
Thanks. I thought Fett vs Wozniacki was one the best.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, SG. The tournament is getting quite exciting. Do you get to watch the matches there?
ReplyDeleteYes I watch all important matches.
ReplyDelete