Djokovic, Federer Roll Into Australian Open Third Round
Defending champion and world number one Novak Djokovic moved into the Australian Open third-round on Wednesday, defeating French teenager Quentin Halys 6-1, 6-2, 7-6(3) on Rod Laver Arena.
Djokovic cruised through the first two sets in under an hour and looked to be in top form. In the second set, he ripped 16 winners to just 1 unforced error and converted on both of his break point chances for a near perfect set.
In the third, Halys showed why he will be a player to be reckoned with in the future. He forced Djokovic into a tiebreaker, but the top-seeded Serb was too much, winning seven of the 10 points in the breaker to advance in straight sets.
“I think I played a good match. Third set was a close set, it was a battle. Credit to him for fighting and serving well,” said Djokovic. “We got to a tiebreak where I held my nerve and played solid tennis. He’s a powerful player with a big forehand. He was aggressive every time he had an opportunity. He was just firing shots from both corners, from the back of the court. He deserved the credit and applause at the end of the match for a fight.”
Up next for Djokovic is 28th seeded Italian Andreas Seppi, who ousted Roger Federer at this stage a year ago.
In his second round match on Wednesday, Seppi moved past American Denis Kudla 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.
Federer used his dominant serve to get through his second-round opponent, Ukraine’s Alexander Dolgopolov. The Swiss Maestro ripped 25 aces and on 88 percent of his first serves to defeat Dolgopolov 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 triumph.
After securing a break up 3-2 to take the opening set, Federer and Dolgopolov were on serve through the first 10 games of the second set, when the Ukrainian mishit a few shots in a row to give Federer the break he needed, and he consolidated it with a hold at love to take the second set 7-5.
He would dominate the third set, breaking Dolgopolov three more times to push through in straight sets.
“I think it’s a very important part of the game,” said Federer of his serve. “I think everybody should work on it, to be honest. It’s the only shot that we can actually control. The rest we are reacting to. I thought today I did serve very well.”
He hopes to continue serving well when he seeks his 300th career win at the four Grand Slams in a third-round contest with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, whom he beat in the Brisbane quarterfinals earlier this year.
The 27th seed Dimitrov defeated Argentina’s Marco Trungelliti 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in his second-round contest on Wednesday.
A semifinalist in Melbourne the last two years, Tomas Berdych continued his run with a blistering 6-4, 6-0, 6-3 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Mirza Basic.
Berdych hit 15 aces and lost only two points on his first serve to roll past Basic.
“I think it was a good day at the office,” said Berdych. “Straight-sets win: always helpful, always good.”
The sixth-seeded Czech will take on Australian Nick Kyrgios in the third-round in a match that should feature a ton of firepower.
Kyrgios advanced past Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas 6-4, 7-5, 7-6(2) on Wednesday.
France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga continued to look good with a 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 rout of Australia’s Omar Jasika.
Tsonga will take on fellow Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the third-round. Herbert ended the run of Long Island’s Noah Rubin with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 victory.
Rounding out the rest of Wednesday’s winners on the men’s side were: seventh-seed Kei Nishikori, 12th seed Marin Cilic, 14th seed Gilles Simon, 15th seed David Goffin, 19th seed Dominic Thiem, 24th seed Roberto Bautista-Agut, 26th seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Federico Delbonis.
